And sounding and bounding and rounding,
And bubbling and troubling and doubling,
And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,
And clattering and battering and shattering.
* Name-making; the formation of words in imitation of the sounds made by the things signified: as, buzz, hiss, peewit, etc. It is held by some philologists that all language had its origin in onomatopœia, words formed by this principle being the most natural, and readily suggesting the actions or objects producing the sounds which the words are intended to represent.
Euphemism is the form of expression by which bad or dangerous things are spoken of in gracious terms. As an example we say death is “parting” or “falling asleep.”
Emphasis, or Inversion, adds greatly to the precision as well as vigor of style when temperately used. That is, when the predicate or object are much more impressive or mentally prominent than the subject they may with advantage precede it.
Any special emphasis may justify inversion. It is frequently used to indicate a swift or abrupt action—Commands frequently assume this form and owe to it half their force.
Examples:—
Great is Diana of the Ephesians,
Sweet is the breath of morn.
Low she lies who blessed our eyes.
Silver and gold have I none.
Go he shall. Stay not here.
Up goes the fool, and gets sent down again.
FORMS OF WRITTEN ENGLISH
All forms of language composition are either Prose or Poetry; and these in turn are subdivided rhetorically into certain well-recognized special forms. The following classification shows at a glance the most important of these: