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And from that full meridian of my glory
I hafte now to my fetting. I fhall fall,
Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
And no man fee me more.

Henry VIII. at 3. fc. 4.

But it will be a better illuftration of the prefent head, to give examples where comparisons are improperly introduced. I have had already occafion to obferve, that fimiles are not the language of a man in his ordinary state of mind, difpatching his daily and ufual work: for that reason, the following fpeech of a gardener to his fervants, is extremely improper :

Go, bind thou up yon dangling apricocks,
Which, like unruly children, make their fire
Stoop with oppreffion of their prodigal weight:
Give fome fupportance to the bending twigs.
Go thou, and, like an executioner,
Cut off the heads of too-faft-growing sprays,
That look too lofty in our commonwealth :
All must be even in our government.

Richard II, at 3. Sc. 7.

The fertility of Shakefpear's vein betrays him frequently into this error. There is the fame impropriety in another fimile of his :

Hero. Good Margaret, run thee into the parlour; There fhalt thou find my coufin Beatrice;

Whisper her ear, and tell her, I and Urfula

Walk in the orchard, and our whole difcourfe

Is all of her; fay, that thou overheardst us :
And bid her fteal into the pleached bower,
Where honeyfuckles, ripen'd by the fun,
Forbid the fun to enter; like to favourites,
Made proud by princes, that advance their pride
Against that power that bred it.

Much ado about nothing, a&t 3. fc, 1.

Rooted grief, deep anguish, terror, remorse, defpair, and all the fevere difpiriting paffions, are declared enemies, perhaps not to figurative language in general, but undoubtedly to the pomp and folemnity of comparifon. Upon this account, the fimile pronounced by young Rutland, under terror of death from an inveterate enemy and praying mercy, is unnatural:

So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch
That trembles under his devouring paws;
And fo he walks infulting o'er his prey,
And fo he comes to rend his limbs afunder.
Ah, gentle Clifford, kill me with thy fword,
And not with fuch a cruel threat'ning look.

Third part Henry VI. act 1. sc. 5.

Nothing appears more out of place, nor more aukwardly introduced, than the following fis mile:

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Farewell, though death is in the word, for-ever!

Portius. Stay, Lucia, ftay; what doft thou fay? for

ever?

Lucia. Have I not fworn? If, Portius, thy fuccefs Muft throw thy brother on his fate, farewell:

Oh, how fhall I repeat the word for-ever!

Portius. Thus, o'er the dying lamp th' unfteady flame Hangs quivering on a point, leaps off by fits, And falls again, as loath to quit its hold.

Thou must not go, my foul still hovers o'er thee, And can't get loofe.

Cato, act 3. fc. 2.

Nor doth the fimile which clofes the firft act of the fame tragedy, make a better appearance; the fituation there reprefented being too difpiriting for a fimile. A fimile is improper for one who dreads the discovery of a fecret machination:

Zara. The mute not yet return'd! Ha! 'twas the
King.

The King that parted hence! frowning he went;
like meteors roll'd, then darted down
Their red and angry beams; as if his fight

His eyes

Would, like the raging Dog-ftar, fcorch the earth,
And kindle ruin in its course,

Mourning Bride, act 5. Sc. 3.

A man spent and difpirited after losing a battle, is not difpofed to heighten or illuftrate his difcourse by fimiles :

York. With this we charg'd again; but out! alas, We bodg'd again; as I have feen a fwan

With bootlefs labour fwim against the tide,

And spend her strength with over-matching waves.

Ah!

Ah! hark, the fatal followers do pursue ; .
And I am faint and cannot fly their fury.
The fands are number'd that make

up my

life;

Here must I stay, and here my life must end.

Third part Henry VI. a&t 1. fc. 6.

Far lefs is a man difpofed to fimiles who is not only defeated in a pitch'd battle, but lies at the point of death mortally wounded:

Warwick.

-My mangled body shews,

My blood, my want of ftrength, my fick heart shews,

That I must yield my body to the earth,

And, by my fall, the conqueft to my foe.

Thus yields the cedar to the ax's edge,

Whofe arms gave shelter to the princely eagle;
Under whofe fhade the ramping lion flept,
Whofe top-branch overpeer'd Jove's fpreading tree,
And kept low shrubs from winter's pow'rful wind.

Third part Henry VI. act 5. sc. 3.

Queen Katharine, deferted by the King, and in the deepest affliction upon her divorce, could not be difpofed to any fallies of imagination: and for that reafon, the following fimile, however beautiful in the mouth of a fpectator, is fcarce proper in her own:

I am the most unhappy woman living,
Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity,
No friends, no hope! no kindred weep for me!
Almost no grave allow'd me! like the lily,

That

That once was mistress of the field, and flourish'd,

I'll hang my head, and perish.

King Henry VIII. a&t 3. fc. 1.

Similes thus unfeasonably introduced, are finely ridiculed in the Rehearsal.

Bayes. Now here she must make a fimile.

Smith. Where's the neceffity of that, Mr Bayes? Bayes. Because she's furpris'd; that's a general rule; you must ever make a fimile when you are surprised; 'tis a new way of writing.

A comparison is not always faultlefs even where it is properly introduced. I have endeavoured above to give a general view of the different ends to which a comparison may contribute: a comparison, like other human productions, may fall fhort of its end; of which defect instances are not rare even among good writers; and to complete the present subject, it will be neceffary to make fome obfervations upon fuch faulty comparifons. I begin with obferving, that nothing can be more erroneous than to inftitute a comparison too faint a diftant refemblance or contraft fatigues the mind with its obfcurity, instead of amufing it; and tends not to fulfil any one end of a comparison. The following fimiles feem to la bour under this defect.

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