SYLLEPSIS. § 607. SYLLEPSIS, from the Greek ovλλmpis, taken together, is a trope by which a word is taken in two senses, the literal and the metaphorical; when we conceive the sense of the words to be otherwise than what the words impart, and construe them according to the sense of the writer. 1. Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he Laid many a heavy load on thee.-Epitaph on a bad Architect. 2. "And hope shall revive again, and, brighter and warmer than the beams of the morning sun, shall illumine and invigorate his dark soul." 3. Perchance she died in youth; it may be, bowed 4. Beautiful as the whole country had been, I found nothing equal to the two hours before entering Nicaragua.-J. L. STE PHENS. SYNECDOCHE. § 608. SYNECDOCHE, from the Greek word ovvekdoxń, a taking together, is a trope by which the whole of a thing is put for a part, or a part for the whole; as a species for a genus, or a genus for a species. It comprehends more or less in the expres sion than the word which is employed literally signifies. 1. A sail! a sail! a promised prize to hope, Her nation's flag-how speaks the telescope? No prize, alas! but yet a welcome sail.-BYRON. Here we have a part for the whole. 2. Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay.-POPE. Here we have the whole for a part. 3. I attest heaven and earth, that in all places and at all times I have steadfastly shoved aside the gilded hand of corruption, and endeavored to stem the tide which threatened to overwhelm this island.-BURKE. 4. "The Lord Chancellor waited on his majesty and resigned the seals." 5. "The governor came forth and delivered up the keys of the fort to the conqueror." CHAPTER III. PERSPICUITY. § 609. WHATEVER be the end aimed at by the orator, unless he speaks so as to be understood, he speaks to no purpose. If he fails in perspicuity, he fails in being understood. It is not enough that he can be understood by the closest attention on the part of the hearer. He must be easily understood. Perspicuity is eminently a rhetorical quality. Just as a sentence may be perfectly grammatical, and yet be false in reference to logic, so it may be perfectly grammatical, and yet be deficient in perspicuity. I. Obscurity may arise from ELLIPSIS; as, "You ought to contemn all the wit in the world against you." As the writer does not mean to say that all the wit in the world is actually excited against the person whom he addresses, there is a defect in the expression, which may be removed by filling up the ellipsis. "He talks all the way up stairs to a visit." Fill up ellipsis, and you remove the obscurity. "He talks all the way as he walks up stairs to make a visit." the There II. Obscurity may arise from bad ARRANGEMENT. should be such an arrangement as will indicate the order and connection. "He advanced against the fierce ancient, imitating his address, his pace, and career, as well as the vigor of his horse and his own skill would allow." The clause, as well as the vigor of his horse, appears at first to belong to the former part of the sentence, and is afterward found to belong to the lat ter. "After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness." This sentence is deficient in unity and connection. III. Obscurity may arise from using the SAME Word in difFERENT SENSES. "That he should be in earnest it is hard to conceive, since any reasons of doubt which he might have in the case would have been reasons of doubt in other men, who may give more, but can not give more evident signs of thought than their fellow-creatures." Instead of using the same word more as an adjective and an adverb in the same sentence, the following form might be advantageously substituted: "Who may give more numerous, but can not give more evident signs of doubt than their fellow-creatures." "The sharks who prey upon the inadvertency of young heirs are more pardonable than those who trespass on the good opinion of those who treat with them on the footing of choice and respect." IV. Obscurity may arise from the injudicious use of TECHNI CAL TERMS. Every important science or art has its peculiar terms, which are of great utility in the study of that science or the practice of that art, but which are not adapted to general use; for the plain reason, that they are not generally understood. § 610. I. Obscurity may arise from the use of EQUIVOCAL. TERMS. "The next refuge was to say that it was overlooked by one, and many passages wholly written by another." The word overlooked sometimes signifies revised, and sometimes neglected. In this case the word revised would have been preferable. II. Obscurity may arise from AMBIGUOUS CONSTRUCTION. "The rising tomb a lofty column bore." Did the tomb bear the column, or the column the tomb? Obscurity also arises from Long sentences, or from an Artificial Construction of sentences, or from the use of foreign idioms. § 611. I. Obscurity may arise from CONFUSION OF THOUGHT. Though distinct thoughts are rendered confused by a gross medium, no clearness of medium can render a confused thought clear. The following indicates a confusion of thought: "The serene aspect of these writers, joined with the great encouragement I observe is given to another, or what is intended to be suspected, in which he indulges himself, confirmed me in the notion I have of the prevalence of ambition this way." II. Obscurity may arise from AFFECTATION OF ELEGANCE. "Men must acquire a very peculiar and strong habit of turning their eye inward, in order to explore the interior regions and recesses of the mind, the hollow caverns of deep thought, the private seats of fancy, and the wastes and wildernesses, as well as the more fruitful and cultivated tracts, of this obscure climate." This is the way in which an author tells us that it is difficult to trace the operations of the mind. III. Obscurity may arise from WANT OF MEANING. "Whatever renders a period sweet and pleasant, makes it also graceful; a good ear is the gift of Nature. It may be much improved, but it can not be acquired by art; whoever is possessed of it will scarcely need dry critical precepts to enable him to judge of the true rhythmus and melody of composition: just members, accurate proportions, a musical symphony, magnificent figures, and that decorum which is the result of all these, are unison to the human mind; we are so framed by nature that their charm is irresistible." We have here only some faint glimmerings of sense. IV. Obscurity may arise from AFFECTATION OF METAPHYSICAL DEPTH AND ACCURACY. "Man is the dwarf of himself. Once he was permeated and dissolved by spirit. He filled nature with. his overflowing currents." V. Obscurity may arise from the LOVE OF PARADOX. "The Gospel appeals not only to our sense of duty, but to all our selfishness.' VI. Perspicuity is often violated by the use of the Latin rather than the Saxon element of the language. In scientific works, words derived from the Classical stock are often especially appropriate. Indeed, in many cases, there are no equivalent words derived from the Anglo-Saxon; but on common subjects the Anglo-Saxon element is much more expressive and perspicuous. See § 103. Perspicuity is often violated by the introduction of long parentheses. They call off the attention from the main subject, and fix it upon what is subordinate, and thus introduce confusion into the mind. CHAPTER IV. LIVELINESS OF EXPRESSION. § 612. LIVELINESS OF EXPRESSION is of the greatest importance to the orator or the writer, inasmuch as it serves to fix the attention of the hearer or the reader, to awaken his imagination, and to impress the thought conveyed upon the memory. I. Liveliness of Expression as depending on the CHOICE OF WORDS. 1. In the Song of Moses on the shores of the Red Sea, the inspired poet says, "They sank as lead in the mighty waters." Make but a small alteration in the expression, and say, "They fell as metal in the mighty waters," and the difference in the impression produced on the mind will be quite remarkable. In the one case we have the specific terms, sank and lead; in the other the generic terms, fell and metal. In the one case the picture is more distinct and brighter than the other. Terms are more striking and vivid than General Terms. Specific 2. Words of Anglo-Saxon origin produce a livelier impression than those of Latin origin. "You lie!" will awaken more feeling than "You tell a falsehood." 3. Words used Tropically are more expressive than other words. See § 568. II. Liveliness of Expression as depending on the NUMBER OF WORDS. As a general rule, the fewer the words, the more lively the expression. "Brevity is the soul of wit." The princips! faults committed against brevity are, 1. Tautology, which is the repetition of some idea in different words; as, "It was the privilege and birthright of every citizen and poet to rail aloud and in public." 2. Pleonasm. This implies bare superfluity, or more than enough; as, "They returned back again to the same city from whence they came forth." 3. Verbosity. The difference between Verbosity and Pleonasm is, that in the latter there are words which add nothing to the sense; and in the former, not only single words, but whole clauses may have a meaning, and yet it were better to orit |