*

When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.

I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under;
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I sift the snow on the mountains below,
And their great pines groan aghast.
And all the night 'tis my pillow white,
When I sleep in the arms of the blast.
Sublime on the towers of my skyey bowers
Lightning, my pilot, sits:

In a cavern under is fettered the thunder;
It struggles and howls by fits.

Over earth and ocean, with gentle motion,
This pilot is guiding me,

Lured by the love of the genii that move
In the depths of the purple sea;

Over the rills and the crags and the hills,
Over the lakes and the plains,

Whatever he dream, under mountain or stream,
The spirit he loves remains;

And I all the while bask in heaven's blue smile, While he is dissolving in rain.

That orbed maiden with white fire laden,
Whom mortals call the moon,

Glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor
By the midnight breezes strewn;

And wherever the beat of unseen feet,

Which only the angels hear,

May have broken the woof of my tent's thin roof,

The stars peep behind her and peer;

And I laugh to see them whirl and flee,

Like a swarm of golden bees,

When I widen the rent in my wind-built tent,

Till the calm rivers, lakes, and seas,

Like strips of the sky, fallen through me on high, Are each paved with the moon and these.

SECTION XXXVI

Material from Nature

When making a comparison a person will naturally compare one thing with some other with which he is familiar, and which is suggested to him without a conscious effort. Thus a child who has little knowledge beyond that which he has acquired through observation, will, when stating resemblances, make comparisons with the objects which he sees about him every day. If he is an observing child he will know much about the domestic and wild animals of his vicinity, of the birds and insects, of the trees, grass, flowers, and other things common in the place where he lives. Thus nature and the common objects in and about his home are the first sources from which he draws for the expression of thought by comparison.

Nature a Universal Source. There is no other material so universally used for the stating of resemblances as that which nature furnishes. Every one, of whatever race or nation, possesses more or less of this knowledge. A person may know nothing of classic myth, may never have heard of the world's great heroes and the great events of history; but whoever he is, and wherever he lives, he will have read much from nature's open book and will use the knowledge thus gained when he wishes to express himself by means of a comparison. Hence nature is the most universally understood of all the sources from which material may be drawn for this particular kind of thought expression.

Nature a Rich Source. There is really no limit to the number and character of the objects and phenomena which nature affords for the statement of resemblances. Conversation and literature abound in references to these,

and to just the extent that you are acquainted with nature you will be able to understand them and to use allusions to nature in expressing your own thoughts. A reading

of the works of our best writers will show you that most of them enjoyed a close acquaintance with nature; and in order that you may understand and enjoy their frequent references to her, you, too, must become acquainted with nature.

Exercises

I. Select the comparisons in the following that are based upon resemblances to objects and phenomena in nature, and state which are similes and which are metaphors. If there are any examples of personification, mention them, and explain the resemblances which these suggest.

1. I require your heart to be true as God's stars, And pure as heaven your soul.

2.

MRS. BROWNING.

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea
When the blue wave rolls nightly on blue Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath flown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

- BYRON.

3. The fragrance of her rich and delightful character still lingered about the place where she had lived, as a dried rosebud scents the drawer where it has withered and perished. 4. Those flowers, how fragrant! That young girl's face, how cheerful, how blooming! it is a flower with dew upon it and sunbeams in the dewdrops!

5.

- HAWTHORNE.

See yonder fire! It is the moon
Slow rising over yonder hill,

It glimmers on the forest tips,
And through the dewy foliage drips
In little rivulets of light,

And makes the heart in love with night.

6. Noon by the north clock! noon by the east! High noon, too, by those hot sunbeams that fall, scarcely aslope, upon my head, and almost make the water bubble and smoke in the trough under my nose. Truly we public characters have a rough time of it! And among all the public characters chosen at the March meeting, where is he that sustains for a single year, the burden of such manifold duties as are imposed in perpetuity upon the Town Pump? — HAWTHORNE.

7. Thoughts must come naturally, like wild flowers; they cannot be forced in a hot-bed-even although aided by the leaf mold of your past.

8.

9.

The blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
See how Aurora throws her fair
Fresh-quilted colors through the air:
Get up, sweet Slug-a-bed, and see

The dew bespangled herb and tree.

Each flower has wept, and bow'd toward the east,
Above an hour since.

For jewels for your gown, or hair:
Fear not; the leaves will strew
Gems in abundance for you:

Besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
Against you come, some orient pearls unwept:
Come and receive them while the light
Hangs on the dew-locks of the night.

Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife,

- HERRICK.

Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings,
Passing at home a patient life,

Broods in the grass while her husband sings.

Modest and shy as a nun is she,

One weak chirp is her only note;
Braggart and prince of braggarts is he,
Pouring boasts from his little throat.

- BRYANT.

II. From your reading select and write the figures of speech which are based upon resemblances. Be prepared to explain in class the expressed or implied comparison in each.

III. Write ten sentences containing similes in which reference is made to animal life. Write ten sentences containing metaphors suggested by some form of plant life. Write ten sentences in which inanimate objects are personified.

SECTION XXXVII

Material from the Bible

The Bible offers a rich store of material for use in the statement of resemblances. With its terse chronicles, its vivid descriptions, its clear narratives, its strong expositions, and its beautiful poetry, it presents the entire range of literature, and deals with all the experiences of human life. Hence in it are to be found not only types for comparison, but excellent examples of the use of figurative language.

Literature is rich in figures that are based upon Bible allusions, and even in ordinary conversation many of these are heard. Indeed, so well known have many of them become that they have meanings in themselves, and persons use them without knowing or thinking of the events upon which they are based. For example, how often we hear persons use the expression, "a widow's mite," "the fiery furnace," without considering that the one is based upon the account of the poor widow's casting the two mites into the temple treasury, and the other upon the story of the