Higher Lessons in English Part 85

3. _Three hundred men_ held the hosts of _Xerxes_ at bay.

4. I _sat_ at her _cradle_, I _followed_ her _hea.r.s.e_.

5. Their _daggers_ have _stabbed_ Caesar.

6. When I'm _mad_, I _weigh a ton_.

7. _Burn_ Moscow, _starve back_ the _invaders_.

8. There's no use in _crying over spilt milk_.

9. In proportion as men delight in _battles_ and _bull-fights_ will they punish by _hanging, burning_, and the _rack_.

+Direction+.--_Change these general terms to specific words, and note the gain in energy_:--

1. Anne Boleyn was _executed_.

2. It were better for him that a _heavy weight were fastened to him_ and that he were _submerged_ in _the waste of waters_.

3. _The capital of the chosen people_ was _destroyed_ by _a Roman general_.

4. Consider the _flowers_ how they _increase in size_.

5. Caesar was _slain_ by _the conspirators_.

6. The _cities of the plain_ were _annihilated_.

+Direction+.--_Arrange these words, phrases, and clauses in the order of their strength, placing the strongest last, and note the gain in energy_:--

1. The nations of the earth repelled, surrounded, pursued, and resisted him.

2. He was no longer consul nor citizen nor general nor even an emperor, but a prisoner and an exile.

3. I shall die an American; I live an American; I was born an American.

4. All that I am, all that I hope to be, and all that I have in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it.

5. I shall defend it without this House, in all places, and within this House; at all times, in time of peace and in time of war.

6. We must fight if we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate our rights, if we do not mean to abandon the struggle.

LESSON 154.

FIGURES OF SPEECH--CRITICISM.

+Direction+.--_Name the figures of speech, and then recast a few sentences, using plain language, and note the loss of beauty and force_:--

1. Lend me your _ears_.

2. Please address the _chair_.

3. The robin knows when your grapes have _cooked_ long enough in the sun.

4. A day will come when _bullets_ and _bombs_ shall be replaced by _ballots_.

5. _Genius creates; taste appreciates what is created_.

6. Caesar were no _lion_ were not Romans _hinds_.

7. The soul of Jonathan was _knit_ to that of David.

8. _Traffic_ has _lain down_ to rest.

9. Borrowing _dulls_ _the edge_ of husbandry.

10. He will bring down my _gray hairs_ with sorrow to the grave.

11. Have you _read Froude_ or _Freeman?_ 12. The _pen_ is mightier than the _sword_.

13. If I can _catch him once upon the hip_, I will _feed fat_ the ancient grudge I bear him.

14. The destinies of mankind were _trembling in the balance_, while _death fell_ in showers.

15. The _threaded steel_ flies swiftly.

16. O Ca.s.sius, you are _yoked with a lamb_ that _carries anger as the flint bears fire_.

17. I called the _New World_ into existence to redress the balance of the Old_.

18. Nations shall _beat their swords into plowshares_, and _their spears into pruning-hooks_.

19. The _Morn_ in _russet mantle clad walks o'er the dew_ of yon high eastern hill.

20. _Homer_, like the _Nile_, pours out his riches with a _sudden overflow; Virgil_, like a _river in its banks_, with a _constant stream_.

21. The air _bites_ shrewdly.

22. He doth _bestride_ the narrow world _like a Colossus_.

23. My _heart_ is in the coffin there with Caesar.

24. All _hands_ to the pumps!

25. The _gray-eyed Morn smiles_ on the _frowning Night_.

26. The good is often buried with men's _bones_.

27. Beware of the _bottle_.

28. All nations respect our _flag_.

29. The _marble_ speaks.

30. I have no _spur to p.r.i.c.k the sides_ of my intent.

31. I _am as constant as the northern star_.

32. Then _burst_ his mighty _heart_.

33. The ice is covered with _health_ and _beauty_ on skates.

34. Lentulus returned with _victorious eagles_.

35. _Death_ hath _sucked_ the honey of thy breath.

36. Our _chains are forged_.

37. I have _bought golden_ opinions.

38. The _hearth blazed_ high.

39. His words _fell softer than snows on the brine_.

40. _Night's candles are burnt out_, and _jocund Day stands tiptoe_ on the misty mountain top.

+Direction+.--_In the first four sentences, use similes; in the second four, metaphors; in the third four, personifications; in the last eight, metonymies:--_

1. He _flew with the swiftness of an arrow_.

2. In battle some men _are brave_, others _are cowardly_.

3. His head is as full of plans _as it can hold_.

4. I heard a _loud_ noise.

5. Boston is the _place where_ American liberty _began_.

6. Our dispositions should grow _mild_ as we _grow old_.

7. _The stars can no longer be seen_.

8. In battle some men are _brave_, others are _cowardly_.

9. The c.o.c.k tears up the ground for his family of _hens_ and _chickens_.

10. The waves _were still_.

11. The oak stretches out _its_ strong _branches_.

12. The flowers are the sweet and pretty _growths_ of the earth and sun.

13. English _vessels_ plow the seas of the two _hemispheres_.

14. Have you read _Lamb's Essays_?

15. The _water_ is boiling.

16. We have prostrated ourselves before the _king_.

17. _Wretched people_ s.h.i.+ver in _their_ lair of straw.

18. The _soldier_ is giving way to the _husbandman_.

19. _Swords_ flashed, and _bullets_ fell.

20. His banner led the _spearmen_ no more.

+Remark+.--If what is begun as a metaphor is not completed as begun, but is completed by a part of another metaphor or by plain language, we have what, is called a _mixed metaphor_. It requires great care to avoid this very common error.

+Direction+.--_Correct these errors_:--