form a simile: but if, with Pope, we affirm, that human life is actually a scene of all these objects, we form a picturesque and instructive metaphor. "Let us (since life can little else supply, A wild, where weeds and flow'rs promiscuous shoot; Try what the open, what the covert yield; The following are examples of metaphor taken from Scripture: "I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." "Thou art my rock and my fortress." "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path." The utility and beauty of metaphors may be farther illustrated, by another example taken from a distinguished author; and by contrasting his highly ornamented expressions, with that tame and simple phraseology, in which, perhaps, a writer of inferior genius would have communicated his thoughts. The example is as follows: "Banish all your imaginary, and you will suffer no real wants. The little stream that is left, will suffice to quench the thirst of nature; and that which cannot be quenched by it, is not your thirst, but your distemper." The following are the same sentiments in plain language: "Restrict your desires to the satisfaction of the real wants of nature. A small portion of the good things of this world, is sufficient for that purpose: if you desire more, you have not yet learned that moderation which constitutes true happiness." In the latter phraseology, the ideas remain, the understanding is instructed, and wisdom is perhaps instilled; but the ornament is all fled, the imagination is neglected, and the heart is not impressed. Rules to be observed in the use of metaphors. 1. Metaphors, as well as other figures, should on no occasion, be stuck on profusely; and should always be such as accord with the strain of our sentiment. The latter part of the following passage, from a late historian, is, in this respect, very exceptionable. He is giving an account of the famous act of liament against irregular marriages in England. "The bill," par At says he, "underwent a great number of alterations and amendments, which were not effected without violent contest. length, however, it was floated through both houses on the tide of a great majority, and steered into the safe harbour of royal approbation." 2. Care should be taken that the resemblance, which is the foundation of the metaphor, be clear and perspicuous, not farfetched, nor difficult to discover. The transgression of this rule makes what are called harsh or forced metaphors; which are displeasing, because they puzzle the reader, and instead of illustrating the thought, render it perplexed and intricate. 3. In the third place, we should be careful, in the conduct of metaphors, never to jumble metaphorical and plain language together. An author addressing himself to the king, says: To thee the world its present homage pays; It is plain, that, had not the rhyme misled him to the choice of an improper phrase, he would have said, The harvest early, but mature the crop; and so would have continued the figure which he had begun. Whereas, by dropping it unfinished, and by employing the literal word "praise," when we were expecting something that related to the harvest, the figure is broken, and the two members of the sentence have no suitable correspondence to each other. In the following example, the metaphorical and the literal meaning, are improperly mixed. Dryden, in his introduction to his translation of Juvenal, says, "Thus I was sailing on a vast ocean, before the use of the loadstone or knowledge of the compass, without other help than the polar star of the ancients, and the rules of the French stage among the moderns." Every reader must perceive the incoherence of the transition from the figurative expression, "the polar star of the ancients," to the literal phraseology, "the rules of the French stage among the moderns;" and the inconsistency of pretending to navigate the ocean, by the laws of the theatre. The subsequent quotation from Garth, is still more exceptionable. But now from gath'ring clouds destruction pours, That destruction might be poured from a cloud, in the form of lightning, thunder, or a water-spout, is possible and intelligible; that it might occasion a temporary devastation and general terror, is conceivable and very probable. But what opinion shall we form of its effects and appearance, when, in the next line, it assumes the functions of a fury, and takes up its residence in society, "to ruin with mad rage our halcyon hours?" The storm returns in the third line, and is supposed, not without reason perhaps, to arise from collected mists: but the source of these mists is not a little extraordinary, being derived from "black jealousies," which exists only in the minds of men. A new figure is introduced in the last line; political divisions are supposed to form a reserve, which marches in support of the dominion of the tempest. Such motley composition justly deserves reprehension. 4. We should avoid making two inconsistent metaphors meet on one subject. This is what is called mixed metaphor, and is indeed one of the greatest misapplications of this figure. One may be "sheltered under the patronage of a great man :" but it would be wrong to say, "sheltered under the mask of dissimulation;" as a mask conceals, but does not shelter. Addison in his letter from Italy, says, I bridle in my struggling muse with pain, The muse, figured as a horse, may be bridled; but when we speak of launching, we make it a ship; and by no force of imagination, can it be supposed both a horse and a ship at one moment; bridled, to hinder it from launching. The same author, elsewhere, says, "There is not a single view of human nature, which is not sufficient to extinguish the seeds of pride." Observe the incoherence of the things here joined together; making a view to extinguish, and extinguish seeds. Dean Swift observes, that "Those whose minds are dull and heavy, do not easily penetrate into the folds and intricacies of an affair; and therefore they can only scum off what they find at the top." That the author had a right to repre sent his affair, whatever it was, either as a bale of cloth, or a fluid, nobody can deny. But the laws of perspicuity and common sense demanded of him, to keep it either the one or the other, because it could not be both at the same time. It was absurd, therefore, after he had penetrated the folds of it, an operation practicable only on the supposition of its being some pliable, solid body, to speak of scumming off what floated on the surface, which could not be performed unless it were a fluid. As metaphors ought never to be mixed, so they should not be crowded together on the same object; for the mind has difficulty in passing readily through many different views of the same object presented in quick succession. The last rule concerning metaphors, is, that they be not too far pursued. If the resemblance, on which the figure is founded, be long dwelt upon, and carried into all its minute circumstances, we tire the reader, who soon grows disgusted with this stretch of fancy; and we render our discourse obscure. This is called straining a metaphor. Authors of a lively and strong imagination are apt to run into this exuberance of metaphor. When they hit upon a figure that pleases them, they are loth to part with it, and frequently continue it so long, as to become tedious and intricate. We may obfor instance, how the following metaphor is spun out. serve, Thy thoughts are vagabonds; all outward bound, Thy cargo bring; and pestilence the prize : By fond indulgence but inflam'd the more; AN ALLEGORY may be regarded as a metaphor continued; since it is the representation of some one thing by another that resembles it, and which is made to stand for it. We may take from the Scriptures a very fine example of an allegory, in the 80th psalm; where the people of Israel are represented under the image of a vine: and the figure is carried throughout with great exactness and beauty. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it; and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it: and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs into the sea, and her branches into the river. Why hast thou broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of Hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine!" See also Ezekiel, xvii. 22-24. Allegories often combine both ornament and instruction. No picture can more forcibly impress the imagination, no reasoning can so effectually excite the aversion of the heart, as the allegories of Sin and Death, in Paradise Lost. "Before the gates there sat, On either side, a formidable shape. The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, "The other shape, If shape it might be call'd that shape had none, And shook a dreadful dart: what seem'd his head These figures are strongly marked, and the resemblance of their characters to their effects produced in life, is too obvious to need any comment. The first and principal requisite in the conduct of an allegory, is, that the figurative and the literal meaning, be not mixed inconsistently together. Indeed, all the rules, that were given for metaphors, may also be applied to allegories, on account of the affinity they bear to each other. The only material difference between them, besides the one being short and the other being prolonged, is, that a metaphor always explains itself by the words that are connected with it, in their proper and natural meaning: as, when I say, "Achilles was a lion;" "An able minister is the pillar of the state;" the "lion" and |