In using figurative language we must not allow mixing of metaphors. Thus:

1. This world with all its trials is the furnace through which the soul must pass and be developed before it is ripe for the next world.

2. He was unable to steer his ship over the rough road of public sentiment.

3. Every one thought the rebellion had been rooted out; but it was soon rekindled with renewed vigor.

4. The chariot of Revolution is rolling, and gnashing its teeth.

It is also quite as important not to use metaphorical and literal language in the same sentence. For example: Is it the voice of thunder or of my father?

Exercises

436. Are the following figures of speech satisfactory? If not, improve them.

1. Boyle was the father of chemistry and brother to the Earl of Cork.

2. An orator at one of the university unions bore off the palm of merit when he declared that "the British lion, whether it is roaming in the deserts of India or climbing the forests of Canada, will not draw in its horns or retire into its shell."

3. "Brethren," said an earnest exhorter to a body of religious workers, " brethren, remember that there is nothing which will kindle the fires of religion in the human heart like water from the fountains of life."

437. Discuss these two versions:

1. The cares and responsibilities of a sovereign often disturb sleep.

2. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

438. Be prepared to change the following figurative expressions to literal and to discuss the difference in effect:

1. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.

2. At one stride comes the dark.

3. He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.

439. Figures that come to us without seeking are likely to be the most simple and natural. Do any of these we have been examining lack naturalness and spontaneity ?

440. A figure often surprises us. Sometimes its purpose is not to add beauty, but merely to afford amusement. Are there any examples of amusing figurative language in this chapter ?