Figures of Speech

FIGURES OF SPEECH

A Figure of Speech is a departure from the ordinary form of expression, or the ordinary course of ideas in order to produce a greater effect.

Figures of Speech may be classified as under:-

Those based on Resemblance, such as Simile, Metaphor, Personification and Apostrophe.

Those based on Contrast, such as Antithesis and Epigram.

Those based on Association, such as Metonymy and Synec doche.

Those depending on Construction, such as Climax and Anti-climax.

Simile:- In a Simile a comparison is made between two objects of different kinds which have however at least one point in common.

The Simile is usually introduced by such words as like, as or so. Examples:-

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.

The righteous shall flourish as the palm tree.

As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.

Words are like leaves: and where they most abound,

How far that little candle throws his beams ! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.

Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart: Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea.

O my Love's like a red, red rose

That's newly sprung in June;

O my Love's like the melodie.

That's sweetly played in tune.

The following are some common similes of everyday speech:-

Mad as a March Hare; as proud as a peacock; as bold as brass; as tough as leather; as clear as crystal; as good as gold; as old as the hills; as cool as a cucumber.

Note:- A comparison of two things of the same kind is not a Simile.

Metaphor:- A Metaphor is an implied Simile. It does not, like the Simile, state that one thing is like another or acts as another, but takes that for granted and proceeds as if the two things were one.

Thus, when we say, 'He fought like a lion' we use a Simile, but when we say, 'He was a

lion in the fight', we use a Metaphor.

Examples:-

The camel is the ship of the desert.

Life is a dream.

The news was a dagger to his heart.

Revenge is a kind of wild justice.

Note 1:- Every Simile can be compressed into a Metaphor and every Metaphor can be expanded into a Simile.

Thus, instead of saying,

we can say,

Richard fought like a lion (Simile),

Similarly, instead of saying,

The camel is the ship of the desert (Metaphor).

we may expand it and say,

As a ship is used for crossing the ocean, so the camel is used for crossing the desert (Simile).

Other examples:-

Variety is the spice of life (Metaphor).

As spice flavours food, so variety makes life more pleasant (Simile).

The waves broke on the shore with a noise like thunder (Simile).

The waves thundered on the shore. (Metaphor)

Note 2:- Metaphor should never be mixed. That is, an object should not be identified with two or more different things in the same sentence.

The following is a typical example of what is called a Mixed Metaphor.

I smell a rat; I see it floating in the air; but I will nip it in the bud.

Personification:- In Personification inanimate objects and abstract notions are spoken of as having life and intelligence.

Examples:-

In Saxon strength that abbey frowned.

Laughter holding both her sides.

Death lays his icy hand on kings.

Pride goeth forth on horseback, grand and gay, But Cometh back on fool, and begs its way.

Apostrophe:- An Apostrophe is a direct address to the dead, to the absent, or to a personified object or idea. This figure is a special form of Personification. Examples:-

Milton ! thou should'st be living at this hour.

O Friend ! I know not which way I must look For, comfort,

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean-roll !

O death ! where is thy sting ? O grave ! where is thy victory ?

O liberty, what crimes have been committed in thy name ?

Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave, And charge with alt thy chivalry !

O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts.

O Solitude ! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face ?

Hyperbole:- In Hyperbole a statement is made emphatic by overstatement.

Examples:-

Here's the smell of blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Why, man, if the river were dry, I am able to fill it with tears.

O Hamlet ! thou hast cleft my heart in twain Surely never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision than Marie Antoinette.

I loved Ophelia: Torn thousand brothers Could not with all then' quantity of love Make up the sum.

Euphemism:- Euphemism consists in the description of a disagreeable thing by an agreeable name.

Examples:-

He has fallen asleep (i.e., he is dead).

You are telling me a fairy tale (i.e., a lie).

Antithesis:- In antithesis a striking opposition or contrast of words or sentiments is made in the same sentence. It is employed to secure emphasis.

Examples:-

Man proposes, God disposes.

Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.

Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.

Speech is silver, but silence is golden.

To err is human, to forgive divine.

Many are called, but few are chosen.

He had his jest, and they had his estate.

The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him season ably water the one and destroy the other.

Oxymoron:- Oxymoron is a special form of Antithesis, whereby two contradictory qualities are predicted at once of the same thing.

Examples:-

His honour rooted in dishonour stood. And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.

So innocent arch, so cunningly simple.

She accepted it as the kind cruelty of the surgeon's knife.

Epigram:- An Epigram is a brief pointed saying frequently introducing antithetical ideas which excite surprise and arrest attention.

Examples:-

The child is father of the man.

A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

In the midst of life we are in death.

Art lies in concealing art,

He makes no friend, who never made a foe.

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man,

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool,

Lie heavy on him, earth, for he (Vanbrugh, the Architect)

Laid many a heavy load on thee.

Here lies our Sovereign Lord the King. Whose word no man relies on,

Who never said a foolish thing And never did a wise one.

Irony:- Irony is a mode of speech in which the real meaning is exactly the opposite of that which is literally conveyed.

Examples:-

No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.

The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentle man has, with such spirit and decency, charged upon me. I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny.

Here under leave of Brutus and the rest (For Brutus is an honourable man:

So are they all, all honourable men) Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me; But Brutus says he was ambitious, And Brutus is an honourable man.

Pun:- A Pun consists in the use of a word in such a way that it is capable of more than one application, the object being to produce a ludicrous effect.

Examples:-

Is life worth living?-It depends upon the liver.

An ambassador is an honest man who lies abroad for the good of his country.

Metonymy:- In Metonymy (literally, a change of name) an object is designated by the name of something which is generally associated with it.

Some familiar examples:-

The Bench, for the judges.

The House, for the members of Lok Sabha.

The laurel, for success.

Red-coats, for British soldiers.

Bluejackets, for sailors.

The Crown, for the king.

Since there are many kinds of association between objects, there are several varieties of Metonymy.

Thus a Metonymy may result from the use of:-(i)The sign for the person or thing symbolized; as, You must address the chair (i.e., the chairman).

From the cradle to the grave (i.e., from infancy to death).

(ii)The container for the thing contained; as,

The whole city went out to see the victorious general.

The kettle boils.

Forthwith he drank the fatal cup.

He keeps a good cellar.

He was playing to the gallery.

He has undoubtedly the best stable in the country.

The instrument for the agent; as, The pen is mightier than the sword.

The author for his works; as, We are reading Milton.

Do you learn Euclid at your school ?

The name of a feeling or passion for its object; He turn'd his charger as he spake

Upon the river shore,

He gave the bridle-reins a shake, Said 'Adieu for evermore,

My love !

And adieu for evermore.'

Synecdoche:- In Synecdoche a part is used to designate the whole or the whole to designate a part.

(i) A part used to designate the whole; as, Give us this day our daily bread (i.e., food), All hands (i.e., crew) to the pumps. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

A fleet of fifty sail (i.e., ships) left the harbour.

All the best brains in Europe could not solve the problem. He has many mouths to feed.

(ii) The whole used to designate a part; as,

England (i.e., the English cricket eleven) won the first test match against Australia.

Transferred Epithet:- In this figure an epithet is transferred from its proper word to another that is closely associated with it in the sentence.

Examples:-

He passed a sleepless night.

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way.

A lackey presented an obsequious cup of coffee.

Litotes:- In Litotes an affirmative is conveyed by negation of the opposite, the effect being to suggest a strong expression by means of a weaker. It is the opposite of Hyperbole.

Examples:-

I am a citizen of no mean (= a very celebrated) city.

The man is no fool (= very clever).

I am not a little (= greatly) surprised.

Interrogation:- Interrogation is the asking of a question not for the sake of getting an answer, but to put a point more effectively.

This figure of speech is also known as Rhetorical Question because a question is asked merely for the sake of rhetorical effect.

Examples:-

Am I my brother's keeper?

Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Shall I wasting in despair.

Who is here so vile that will not love his country?

Breathes there the man with soul so dead

Who never to himself hath said.

Can storied urn or animated bust

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?

Exclamation:- In this figure the exclamatory form is used to draw greater attention to a point than a mere bald statement of it could do.

Examples:-

What a piece of work is man !

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank !

O what a fall was there, my countrymen !

Climax:- Climax (Gk. Klimax = a ladder) is the arrangement of a series of ideas in the order of increasing importance.

Examples:-

Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime.

What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties ! In action, how like an angel ! In apprehension, how like a god!

Anti-climax:- Anti-climax is the opposite of Climax-a sudden descent from higher to lower. It is chiefly used for the purpose of satire or ridicule.

Examples:-

Here thou, great Anna ! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take-and sometimes tea.

And thou, Dalhousie, the great god of war, Lieutenant-Colonel to the Earl of Mar.

Exercise

Name the various Figures of Speech in the following:-

The more haste, the less speed.

I must be taught my duty, and by you !

Plead, Sleep, my cause, and make her soft like thee.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind.

He makes no friend, who never made a foe.

He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He No see?

Let not ambition mock their useful toil.

To gossip is a fault; to libel, a crime; to slander, a sin.

Oh ! what a noble mind is here overthrown!

Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding.

Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour?

Fools who came to scoff, remained to pray.

The Puritan had been rescued by no common deliverer from the grasp of no common foe.

The cup that cheers but not inebriates.

You are a pretty fellow.

Hasten slowly.

Hail ! smiling morn.

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Curses are like chickens; they come home to roost.

A thousand years are as yesterday when it is past.

The prisoner was brought to the dock in irons.

We had nothing to do, and we did it very well.

Boys will be boys.

The cloister opened her pitying gate.

Lowliness is young Ambition's ladder.

Language is the art of concealing thoughts.

Must I stand and crouch under your humour?

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells !

He followed the letter, but not the spirit of the law.

One truth is clear: whatever is, is right.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Labour, wide as the earth, has its summit in heaven,

Just for a handful of silver Vie left us.

They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.

Swiftly flies the feathered death.

It is a wise father that knows his own child.

Brave Macbeth, with his brandished steel, carved out his passage.

Sweet Thames ! run softly, till I end my song.

There is only one cure for the evils which newly acquired freedom produces-and that cure is freedom.

Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,

So spake the seraph Abdiel faithful found. Among the faithless, faithful only he.

Youth is full of pleasure,

Like the dew on the mountain, Like the foam on the river.

Like the bubble on the fountain, Thou art gone and for ever.

Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust, Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Golden lads and girls all must,

Sweet are the uses of adversity. Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears still a precious jewel in its head.

The naked every day he clad

When he put on his clothes.

      O mischief, thou art swift

To enter in the thoughts of. desperate men.

Knowledge is proud that it knows so much, Wisdom is humble that it knows no more.

At once they rushed

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow, He who would search for pearls must dive below,

The best way to learn a language is to speak it.

Sceptre and crown Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made

With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

O Solitude ! where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face?

I thought ten thousand swords must have leapt from their scabbards to avenge a look that threatened her with insult.

The soldier fights for glory, and a shilling a day.

His honour rooted in dishonour stood,

They speak like saints, and act like devils.

He was a learned man among lords, and a lord among learned men.

Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts.