1.-"EFFUSIVE OROTUND." I.-Pathos and Gloom, or Melancholy, united with Grandeur. 1.[OSSIAN'S APOSTROPHE TO THE SUN.]- Macpherson. "O thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers' whence are thy beams, O sun! thy everlasting light? Thou comest forth in thy awful beauty: the stars hide themselves in the sky; the moon, cold and pale, sinks in the western wave. But thou thyself movest alone who can be a companion of thy course? The oaks of the mountains fall; the mountains themselves decay with years; the ocean shrinks and grows again; the moon herself is lost in the heavens; but thou art forever the same, rejoicing in the brightness of thy course. When the world is dark with tempests, when thunders roll and lightnings fly, thou lookest in thy beauty from the clouds, and laughest at the storm. But to Ossian thou lookest in vain; for he beholds thy beams no more; whether thy yellow hair floats on the eastern clouds, or thou tremblest at the gates of the west. But thou art, perhaps, like me, for a season: thy years will have an end. Thou wilt sleep in thy clouds, careless of the voice of the morning." 2.[MILTON'S ALLUSION TO HIS LOSS OF SIGHT.] "Seasons return: But not to me returns Of nature's works, to me expunged and razed, 3. - [FROM THE ODE ON THE PASSIONS.] - Collins. "With eyes upraised as one inspired, Pale Melancholy sat retired, And from her wild, sequestered seat, In notes by distance made more sweet, Poured through the mellow horn her pensive soul Bubbling runnels joined the sound: ; Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole ; Or, o'er some haunted stream, with fond delay, Round a holy calm diffusing, Love of peace and lonely musing, In hollow murmurs died away." II-Solemnity and Sublimity, combined with Tranquillity. "Yet not to thy eternal resting place Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish That make the meadows green; and, poured round all, Are but the solemn decorations all The planets, all the infinite host of heaven, Are shining on the sad abodes of death, That slumber in its bosom. Take the wings Or lose thyself in the continuous woods Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound Save his own dashings, yet the dead are there; The flight of years began, have laid them down In their last sleep:- the dead reign there alone." 1.- [FROM THE MORNING HYMN IN PARADISE.]-Milton. “These are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good, 1 The appropriate tone of devotion is uniformly characterized by "effusive orotund" utterance. Almighty! Thine this universal frame Thus wondrous fair,- Thyself how wondrous then! To us invisible, or dimly seen 'Midst these thy lowest works. Yet these declare Thy goodness beyond thought 2.- [ADORATION OFFERED BY THE ANGELS.]- Milton. Thee, Father, first they sung, omnipotent, Immutable, immortal, infinite, Eternal King: Thee Author of all being, Amidst the glorious brightness where Thou sitt'st 'By the order of the House of Commons of Great Britain, I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and misdemeanors. "I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, whose parliamentary trust he has abused. “I impeach him in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, whose national character he has dishonored. "I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose laws, rights, and liberties he has subverted. "I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose property he has destroyed, whose country he has laid waste and desolate. 86 I impeach him in the name of human nature itself, which he has cruelly outraged, injured, and oppressed, in both sexes. And I impeach him in the name and by the virtue of those eternal laws of justice, which ought equally to pervade every age, condition, rank, and situation, in the world.” pled upon. 2.-Oratorical Apostrophe and Interrogation. "O Liberty! O sound once delightful to every Roman ear! O sacred privilege of Roman citizenship! Once sacred, now tramBut what then? Is it come to this? Shall an inferior magistrate, a governor, who holds his whole power of the Roman people, in a Roman province, within sight of Italy, bind, scourge, torture with fire and red hot plates of iron, and at last put to the infamous death of the cross, a Roman citizen? Shall neither the cries of innocence expiring in agony, nor the tears of pitying spectators, nor the majesty of the Roman commonwealth, nor the fear of the justice of his country, restrain the licentious and wanton cruelty of a monster, who, in confidence of his riches, strikes at the root of liberty, and sets mankind at defiance?" 3.- Vehement Oratorical Address. [FROM PATRICK HENRY'S WAR SPEECH.] "They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. 'But, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God, who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone: it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. “Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! "It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace!'. - but there is no peace: the war is actually begun! — The next gale that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? - Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? - Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" II. —“Impassioned Expression." 1.- Poetic Invective: Epic Style. [MOLOCH'S ADDRESS.] - Milton. 2 "My sentence is for open war: of wiles, More unexpert, I boast not them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, not now; For, while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Of his almighty engine, he shall hear Infernal thunder, and, for lightning, see Black fire and horror shot, with equal rage, Among his angels, and his throne itself Mixed with Tartarean sulphur and strange fire, — 2.-Poetic Apostrophe. [FROM COLERIDGE'S HYMN TO MONT BLANC.] "Ye ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow Who made you glorious as the gates of heaven And they, too, have a voice, yon piles of snow, And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God! |