In DARKNESS FROM EXCESSIVE SPLENDOUR BORN, As that to central horrors; He looks down There's nothing here but what as nothing weighs : Who knows not this, though grey is still a Child! From POPE'S" ESSAY ON MAN." All NATURE is but ART-unknown to Thee; All partial Evil--Universal good; And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason's spite, FROM THE SAME. Better for us, perhaps, it might appear, And, says the same Poet, His life is healthful, and his conscience clear, THE PARABOLE, Or, SIMILE. This, the most frequent and familiar of FIGURES, takes a wider compass than the direct METAPHOR, and is freely used by Writers of every grade as an apt and ready medium for illustration, and serves well both for ornament and delight. It may be simple, or compound. When One thing is likened to another, the Comparison is simple; as when Cicero says, “As swallows are present with us in summer, but are gone in winter, so false friends attend us in the sunshine of Prosperity, but in the winter of Affliction they all flee away.” It is compound when one thing is likened to two or more. Ex.—As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool. Also in this Simile of St. Paul,-“ Though I speak with the tongues of Men and of Angels, and have not Charity, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” The FIGURE, however, is often extended, as in the following Scriptural Extract: "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the Lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the Olive tree. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the Vine, and the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." This sublime passage, as we see, contains a cluster of comparisons. This FIGURE serves for instructive illustration, as, when cautioned not to overprize the temporal gifts of Providence, the sacred Teacher admonishes us, as Strangers and Pilgrims, not to set our affections on Worldly things, and enforces his advice by the apt comparison of a Traveller journeying towards his native country, and not over-solicitous as to his entertainment on the road; when at a good Inn, he will not slight the accommodations it offers, but freely enjoy them, yet not so as to value any wayside refreshment above the solid comforts of his home, or be unmindful of the rich inheritance that awaits him at his journey's end. It has been aptly said, The malicious slander of Envy, and of ill tongues, cast upon a good man, are but as the breath that dims the lustre of the diamond; it may, for a while, obscure its brilliancy, but the gem is unimpaired, and quickly restored to its intrinsic beauty and of the varieties in character it has been well observed that "Shining characters are not always the most agreeable ones; The mild radiance of the emerald is by no means less pleasing than the glare of the ruby." SIMILES are often apt and short. Ex. A MULTITUDE, A TORRENT, and a FLAME, Good habits are very pleasant companions. Judgment is the throne of Prudence, A small leak will sink a great ship. To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first. The One-eyed Man is a King among the blind. The tongue is like a Racehorse, which goes the faster the less weight it carries. A priceless jewel in a thrice-barred chest, Is a brave spirit in a loyal breast. Society is the School of Wisdom. Solitude is the Temple of Virtue. Of wild beasts, the Slanderer bites the sorest; Those who are always purposing, and not doing, resemble the statue of St. George, always mounted, never going on. G THE VILLAGE PASTOR AND HIS FLOCK.- GOLDSMITH. To them his heart, his love, his griefs were given, ALEXANDER THE GREAT.-BELCHAM. On GANGES' banks the CHIEF appears; In a proud blaze of armour drest, While o'er him Death tremendous lowers. BREATHLESS AT BABYLON HE LIES, ENGLAND DESCRIBED.--SHAKESPEARE. This royal Throne of Kings, this sceptred Isle, This Fortress, built by Nature for herself, Against Infection and the hand of War; O England, Model to thy inward greatness, What might'st thou do, that Honour would thee do, England never did, nor never shall, Come the three-quarters of the World in Arms, And we shall shock them: nought shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true. FALSE CONFIDENCE AND ITS FRUITS.-PRIOR. On Pleasure's flowing brink we idly stray, Seeing no danger, we disarm our Mind, And give our conduct to the Waves and Wind: We weave the chaplet, or we crown the bowl, Round our devoted heads the billows beat, And from our troubled view the lessened Lands retreat. |