POETIC AND PROSE DICTION.

Poetic diction is picturesque, it often eschews generic terms, such as tree or flower, and prefers to mention some particular tree or flower, as :

'And every shepherd tells his tale

Under the hawthorn in the dale.'

Under 'some tree's shade' would have been less picturesque. In the same way, 'Go, lovely rose,' is far more fitted for poetry than 'Go, lovely flower.' The same for prose, when it is impassioned. We prefer 'Solomon in all his glory' to 'a glorious monarch; but why do we prefer an ancient mariner' to 'an elderly seaman'?

In Shakspeare's Plays prose and poetry serve, as a rule, for distinct purposes. Prose is used in the dialogue between servants, and in jest, and in light conversation.

For instance, Falstaff always speaks in prose, even in scenes where the other characters speak verse. Casca speaks prose when Brutus and Cassius speak in verse. One remarkable instance, where prose is used instead of verse, is in the speech of Brutus to the populace, after the murder of Cæsar. Elsewhere Brutus always speaks verse, but, in addressing the people, he refuses to appeal to their feelings, and

affects a studiously cold, and unimpassioned style. His speech serves, in this respect, as a useful foil to Antony's highly-impassioned harangue. But even in this studiously frigid speech it is noticeable how, as soon as the speaker begins to appeal to the feelings of the audience, he approaches metre, and finally falls into it.

'As Cæsar loved me,' &c.

A good deal of this is taken from that excellent bookEnglish for English People.'

A TEST.

If you wish to judge of a man's character and nature, you have only to find out what he thinks laughable.

INDEX.