—Julius Caesar, Act iii., Sc. 2.
The selection entitled the “Choric Song,” a part of Tennyson’s The Lotos-Eaters, is a fine study in contrast. The speakers are the followers of Ulysses, who are debating whether they shall remain in this new found land of the Lotos or return to their homes. The first, third, fifth, and seventh stanzas are in striking contrast to the others. The feelings of the sailors as they alternately contemplate their life as it is and has been, in contrast with what it might be should they remain here, are strikingly depicted.
The subject of contrasts may be presented to the class in some such manner as the following:
Have you not noticed how much brighter the sunlight seems to be after a thunder-shower? how keenly we enjoy a victory after defeat seems certain? Why is this? Because the clouds by their blackness make us appreciate the sunlight; and the fear of losing the contest makes us doubly glad when we win. If we had sunshine all the time, how monotonous it would be, and how little we should notice it! And you must see that if the other side in a contest were very weak, we should not derive much pleasure from the outcome. All nature is full of these contrasts: joy and sorrow, light and darkness, success and failure, are always around us. So literature, which deals with nature, contains these contrasts, too.
In literature, the contrast is used to impress upon us some idea or picture more completely than could be done by merely describing it. This is done by placing before us the idea and its opposite: it is like placing a dark screen behind a white marble statue. This being so, we can easily see how necessary it is for us to recognize these contrasts in order that we may present them with our voices to the listeners.
Let us take a few simple examples. Our grandparents tell us that it took them sixty days to cross the ocean from England to America; and now, we know, it takes but six. The best way to show how great an advance this century has made in boat-building would be by contrasting the past and the present. We might say: “It took my grandparents sixty days, in a sailing vessel, to cross the ocean, but now we go by steam in six.”
Again: “Last week I was sleighing and skating in Minneapolis; but to-day I am plucking violets and japonicas in the gardens of Savannah.”
In both examples you observe that the concluding idea of the sentence is made more striking because of the contrast it makes with the first part. Be sure to bear this in mind. A contrast is made up of two ideas, and you must have both of them in mind or your reading will be a failure. Do you not see that this is true? If you were to say “I am plucking violets in Savannah to-day,” there would be very little emotion shown in your voice: you would be making just an ordinary statement. But if you were thinking of the great change you had made; how strange it was that you should be in the midst of winter one week and in the midst of spring the next, then the contrast would be such a pleasant one that your voice would be full of joy, and your joy would be largely the result of the contrast. If you had violets all the year round, perhaps you would hardly notice them.
Here are two more examples of contrast, more difficult to express, but more beautiful than the others.
Imagine a noble warrior whose whole life is devoted to good deeds. Imagine him as he speaks the following words descriptive of the old time tournament. Then imagine how grateful he would feel for the relief after the fierce struggle, a relief so beautifully described by the author: