Thus, "A fleet of twenty _sail_, instead of, _ships_." "The _horse_ is a
noble animal;" "The _dog_ is a faithful creature:" here an individual is
put for the species. We sometimes use the "head" for the _person_, and
the "waves" for the _sea_. In like manner, an attribute may be pat for a
subject; as "Youth" for the _young_, the "deep" for the _sea_.
6. PERSONIFICATION or PROSOPOPOEIA is that figure by which we attribute
life and action to inanimate objects. When we say, "The ground _thirsts_
for rain," or, "the earth _smiles_ with plenty;" when we speak of
"ambition's being _restless_," or, "a disease's being _deceitful_;" such
expressions show the facility, with which the mind can accommodate the
properties of living creatures to things that are inanimate.
The following are fine examples of this figure:
"Cheer'd with the grateful smell, old _Ocean smiles_;"
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and
the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
7. AN APOSTROPHE is an address to some person, either absent or dead, as
if he were present and listening to us.
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