An  illustration  of  the  condensation  of  a  comparison
into  a  metaphor  is  given  by  Spence,  as  follows :  "As,
in  passing  through  the  crystal,  beams  of  white  light
are  decomposed  into  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  so,  in
traversing  the  soul  of  the  poet,  the  colorless  rays  of


104  BHSTOBIC,

truth,  arc  transformed  into  brightly-tinted  poetry."
Condensed  into  a  metaphor,  it  becomes  :  "The  white
light  of  truth,  in  traversing  the  many-sided  transparent
soul  of  the  poet,  is  refracted  into  iris-hued  poetry."

29.  Examples  of  Metaphors. — The  following  is  from
the  speech  of  Daniel  Webster  at  the  laying  of  the  cor-
ner-stone of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  June  17, 1825 :

••  When  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  the  existence  of
South  America  was  scarcely  felt  in  the  civilized  world.  Borne  down
by  colonial  subjugation,  monopoly,  and  bigotry,  those  regions  of  the
South  we.re  hardly  visible  above  the  horizon.  But  in  our  day  there
has  been,  as  it  were,  a  new  creation.  The  southern  hemisphere  emer-
ges from  the  sea.  Its  lofty  mountains  begin  to  lift  themselves  into
the  light  of  heaven  ;  its  broad  and  fertile  plains  stretch  out  in  beauty
to  the  eye  of  civilized  man,  and  at  the  mighty  bidding  of  the  voice  of
political  liberty  the  waters  of  darkness  retire."

The  following  is  a  good  metaphor  from  the  writings
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bethune :

"The  giant,  man,  long  crushed  by  usurpers  of  divine  right,  is  fling-
ing off  the  Etna  from  his  mangled  breast.  His  limbs  are  not  yet
drawn  from  under  the  quaking,  and  groaning,  fire-spouting  mass."

Rev.  Dr.  Olin  said :

"Into  this  turbid  maelstrom  (party  strife),  from  which  virtue  and
conscience  never  come  forth  without  a  stain,  good  but  ambitious  men,
of  facile  morality  and  feeble  purposes,  are  ever  ready  to  plunge."

Rev.  Dr.  A.  P.  Stanley,  speaking  of  the  Bible,  says :

"  The  Psalter  alone,  by  its  manifold  applications  and  uses  in  after
times,  is  a  vast  palimpsest,*  written  over  and  over  again,  illuminated,
illustrated,  by  every  conceivable  incident  and  emotion  of  men  and  of
nations :  battles,  wanderings,  dangers,  escapes,  death-beds,  obsequies,
of  many  ages  and  countries,  rise,  or  may  rise,  to  our  view,  as  we
read  it.''

*  A  parchment  written  over  the  second  time,  with  the  first  writing
not  erased.
