45. Figurative Language.-How description may be aided by figurative language is readily learned from examples. The usual figures are simile, comparison, metaphor, and personification. Thus:

Even as it was, a change grew visible; a change partly to be regretted, although whatever charm it infringed upon was repaired by another, perhaps more precious. She was not so constantly gay, but had her moods of thought. . . . Her eyes looked larger and darker and deeper; so deep, at some silent moments, that they seemed like Artesian wells, down, down, into the infinite.-HAWTHORNE: Seven Gables, ch. xii.

Wonderfully expressive is the following metaphor in Webster's apostrophe to Lafayette:

Fortunate, fortunate man! With what measure of devotion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your extraordinary life! You are connected with both hemispheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted through you from the New World to the Old, etc.-WEBSTER: Bunker Hill.

Carlyle's description of the vanity of the two Boswells, father and son, so different in kind, is remarkable for its graphic humor:

Old Auchinleck had, if not the gay, tail-spreading, peacock vanity of the son, no little of the slow-stalking, contentious, hissing vanity of the gander; a still more fatal species.-CARLYLE: Boswell's Johnson.

The value of personification, i. e., giving to inanimate objects the properties of life, may be learned from Hawthorne's description of the trees in the Villa Borghese; the impression of hoary antiquity is deepened by the ironical "only a few years ago":

The ilex trees, so ancient and time-honored were they, seemed to have lived for ages undisturbed, and to feel no dread of profanation from the axe any more than overthrow by the thunder-stroke. It had already passed out of their dreamy old memories that only a few years ago they were grievously imperilled by the Gaul's last assault upon the walls of Rome. As if confident in the long peace of their lifetime, they assumed attitudes of indolent repose. They leaned over the turf in ponderous grace, throwing abroad their great branches without danger of

interfering with other trees, though other majestic trees grew near enough for dignified society, but too distant for constraint.-HAWTHORNE: Marble Faun, i. ch. viii.

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46. Epithet. By this is meant an adjective indicating some quality or attribute which the writer regards as characteristic of the person or thing described. The term may be extended to include a noun or noun-phrase having the effect of a characteristic adjective. Classical students are familiar with the Homeric epithets: "wellgreaved" Greeks; "white-armed" Juno; "blue-eyed " Minerva, etc. Folk-poetry is full of such conventional `epithets, which have lost nearly all their original significance and become mere tags or labels. Modern literature discards conventional epithets, and employs only such adjectives and phrases as really distinguish the person or object. Among modern prose-writers Carlyle is the one most given to epithets. Thus, in a letter to Emerson he sums up his description of Daniel Webster in the clause, I have not traced as much of silent Berserkir rage, that I remember, in any other man." The epithet marks Webster's force of suppressed passion. Emerson, in reply, describes Carlyle as having "thirsty, portrait-eating, portrait-painting eyes." Carlyle's use of epithet is excessive; it often amounts to nicknaming. He incessantly speaks of the very stout Countess of Darlington as the "cataract of tallow;" her opposite, the Duchess of Kendal, as the "Maypole, or lean human nailrod;" political economy is "the dismal science." Every reader of David Copperfield will remember Uriah Heep's use of the word "'umble;" also the application of "respectable," "respectability," to Littimer, in ch. xxi. In Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (211) "the star-dogged Moon" is most striking. Note also: "I stole from court, . . . Cat-footed thro' the town," Tennyson's Princess, i. 103; or Lady Blanche's eye, "A lidless watcher of the public weal," iv. 306.

The happy use of epithet is a badge of ability; one

must have a keen eye and the gift of language, also sound taste. It is dangerous ground for the young writer.

47. Generalized Description.-This is analogous to generalized narration (§ 34). In it the writer delineates a particular group or assemblage, not as it actually appeared on a certain occasion, and only then, but as it may have appeared on any one of a number of occasions; e. g., this account of the famous weekly "Punch " dinners:

On Wednesday evenings the celebrated hebdomadal dinner is held, when the contents of the paper for the following week are discussed and determined. Upstairs the sacred function is held, in a room reached by an ancient and rather crazy staircase. Sir Joseph Paxton and a lady—' the wife, I believe, of one of the publishers-are said to be the only strangers who ever were admitted to witness this esoteric celebration. The "table"-at which only the staff, and not even the regular outside contributors, have any right or chance to sit-is then surrounded by the gentlemen of the staff, artists and writers, presided over by the editor, and supported with more or less regularity by Mr. Bradbury and Mr. William Agnew, the proprietors. As a piece of furniture this hospitable but rather primitive board is not of much account, being of plain deal, oblong in shape, with rounded ends. But its associations render it a treasure among treasures; for at this table every man upon the staff from the first has carved his name with a penknife; and here may be seen the handiwork of those so many of whom are on England's roll of fame, as well as that of others who, with less of genius, have still a strong claim on the gratitude and the recollection of the people. The editor, as I have said, presides; should he be unavoidably absent, another writer-usually, nowadays, Mr. Arthur à Beckett-takes his place, the duty never falling to an artist. Mr. Burnand-who as a president is believed to excel all previous editors, as Mr. Frederick Leighton surpasses all past P. R. A.'s-invites suggestions, listening, weighing, and, with rare tact and art, "drawing" his staff as well as any artist upon it could. Dinner is over and the cloth is removed before the business of the evening is touched upon. Jokes, laughter, and discussion are the order of the evening. On the editor's right sit Mr. Tenniel, Mr. Du Maurier, Mr. Sambourne, Mr. Furniss, and Mr. Reed; and then there are Mr. à Beckett, Mr. Milliken-one of the most talented, as he is one of the most modest men upon the paper-Mr. (Anstey) Guthrie, Mr. Lucy ("Toby"), and Mr. Lehmann.-G. S. LAYARD: Life and Letters of C. S. Keene.

How are we to classify the description of an object, one of hundreds or thousands, all alike, e. g., a rifle, a watch, a sewing-machine? Is it an ordinary description, or a generalized? Or is it exposition? Whatever theoretical answer we may give, we shall not err practically if we treat it as an ordinary description, for the reason that, in the describing, we start from one individual object and delineate it just as we see it. Our delineation is not influenced by the circumstance that it will fit all others. The describing is concrete, not general.

For Expository Description see § 54.

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CHAPTER VII.

EXPOSITION.

48. EXPOSITION may be characterized as that form of composition in which the writer discusses, not a single object or event, but objects or events in their general aspects, or inculcates a general principle, or defines a general

term.

Thus, to write of the death of a certain person is description or narration; but to write upon death in general is exposition. To delineate the features of a certain man is description; to tell wherein man in general differs from other animals is exposition. It is also exposition to explain the working of a steam-engine, or to set forth the advantages of punctuality.

Text-books of science, history, literature, are expository; so are essays. In text-books and essays, it is true, we often find descriptive or narrative passages, but the book or essay is in the main expository. Its aim is to acquaint us with the general truths of science or history, or with the general relation of an individual to his times; e. g., Macaulay's essay on Warren Hastings, although it contains a good deal of narration and description, is, as a whole, an exposition of the policy of Hastings, his services to England, and his position in the history of the world.

As descriptive and narrative passages occur in writings that are essentially exposition, so expository passages occur. in writings essentially description or narration. Such an expository passage usually embodies a passing reflection or meditation; it moralizes, as we say, upon the