+the+ (1) Adjective (article): The lake. (2) Adverb: The more …
the merrier.
+then+ (1) Adverb: I shall know then. (2) Conjunction: If you so
decide, then we may go.
+there+ (1) Adverb: The stream runs there. (2) Expletive: There are many points to be considered. (3) Interjection: There! there! it makes no difference!
+what+ (1) Conjunctive Interrogative Pronoun: I heard what you said. Pronoun: What shall I do? (3) Interrogative Adjective: What game do you prefer? (4) Conjunctive Adjective: I know what books he enjoys. (5) Adverb: What with this and what with that, he finally got his wish. (6) Interjection: What! what!
+while+ (1) Noun: A long while. (2) Verb: To while away the time. (3) Conjunctive Adverb: I stay in while it snows.
III. FIGURES OF SPEECH
+87. Figures of Speech.+—A figure of speech is a change from the usual form of expression for the purpose of producing a greater effect. These changes may be effective either because they are more pleasing to us or because they are more forcible, or for both reasons.
While figurative language is a change from the usual mode of expression, we are not to think of it as being unnatural. It is, in fact, as natural as plain language, and nearly every one, from the illiterate to the most learned, makes use of it, more or less, in his ordinary conversation. This arises from, the fact that we all enjoy comparisons and substitutions. When we say that we have been pegging away all day at our work, or that the wind howls, or that the man has a heart of steel, we are making use of figures of speech. Figurative language ranges from these very simple expressions to the beautiful figures of speech found in so much of our poetry. Written prose contains many beautiful and forcible examples, but it is in poetry that we find most of them.
+88. Simile.+—A simile is an expressed comparison between objects belonging to different classes. We must remember, however, that all resemblances do not constitute similes. If we compare two trees, or two beehives, or two rivers, our comparison is not a simile. If we compare a tree to a person, a beehive to a schoolroom, or time to a river, we may form a good simile, since the things compared do not belong to the same class. The best similes are those in which the ideas compared have one strong point of resemblance, and are unlike in all other respects.
1. How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.