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mbrous　fragments　of　their　recent　association。　　That　he　may　avoid　this；　a　sensitive　writer　is　often　put　to　his　shifts；　and　extorts；　if　he　be　fortunate；　a　triumph　from　the　accident　of　his　encumbrance。　　By　a　slight　stress　laid　on　the　difference　of　usage　the　unshapeliness　may　be　done　away　with；　and　a　new　grace　found　where　none　was　sought。　　Addison　and　Landor　accuse　Milton；　with　reason；　of　too　great　a　fondness　for　the　pun；　yet　surely　there　is　something　to　please　the　mind；　as　well　as　the　ear；　in　the　description　of　the　heavenly　judgment；


That　brought　into　this　world　a　world　of　woe。


Where　words　are　not　fitted　with　a　single　hard　definition；　rigidly　observed；　all　repetition　is　a　kind　of　delicate　punning；　bringing　slight　differences　of　application　into　clear　relief。　　The　practice　has　its　dangers　for　the　weak…minded　lover　of　ornament；　yet　even　so　it　may　be　preferable　to　the　flat　stupidity　of　one　identical　intention　for　a　word　or　phrase　in　twenty　several　contexts。　　For　the　law　of　incessant　change　is　not　so　much　a　counsel　of　perfection　to　be　held　up　before　the　apprentice；　as　a　fundamental　condition　of　all　writing　whatsoever；　if　the　change　be　not　ordered　by　art　it　will　order　itself　in　default　of　art。　　The　same　statement　can　never　be　repeated　even　in　the　same　form　of　words；　and　it　is　not　the　old　question　that　is　propounded　at　the　third　time　of　asking。　Repetition；　that　is　to　say；　is　the　strongest　generator　of　emphasis　known　to　language。　　Take　the　exquisite　repetitions　in　these　few　lines：…


Bitter　constraint　and　sad　occasion　dear　Compels　me　to　disturb　your　season　due；　For　Lycidas　is　dead；　dead　ere　his　prime；　Young　Lycidas；　and　hath　not　left　his　peer。


Here　the　tenderness　of　affection　returns　again　to　the　loved　name；　and　the　grief　of　the　mourner　repeats　the　word　〃dead。〃　　But　this　monotony　of　sorrow　is　the　least　part　of　the　effect；　which　lies　rather　in　the　prominence　given　by　either　repetition　to　the　most　moving　circumstance　of　all　…　the　youthfulness　of　the　dead　poet。　The　attention　of　the　discursive　intellect；　impatient　of　reiteration；　is　concentrated　on　the　idea　which　these　repeated　and　exhausted　words　throw　into　relief。　　Rhetoric　is　content　to　borrow　force　from　simpler　methods；　a　good　orator　will　often　bring　his　hammer　down；　at　the　end　of　successive　periods；　on　the　same　phrase；　and　the　mirthless　refrain　of　a　comic　song；　or　the　catchword　of　a　buffoon；　will　raise　laughter　at　last　by　its　brazen　importunity。　Some　modem　writers；　admiring　the　easy　power　of　the　device；　have　indulged　themselves　with　too　free　a　use　of　it；　Matthew　Arnold　particularly；　in　his　prose　essays；　falls　to　crying　his　text　like　a　hawker；


Beating　it　in　upon　our　weary　brains；　As　tho'　it　were　the　burden　of　a　song；


clattering　upon　the　iron　of　the　Philistine　giant　in　the　effort　to　bring　him　to　reason。　　These　are　the　ostentatious　violences　of　a　missionary；　who　would　fain　save　his　enemy　alive；　where　a　grimmer　purpose　is　glad　to　employ　a　more　silent　weapon　and　strike　but　once。　The　callousness　of　a　thick…witted　auditory　lays　the　need　for　coarse　method　on　the　gentlest　soul　resolved　to　stir　them。　　But　he　whose　message　is　for　minds　attuned　and　tempered　will　beware　of　needless　reiteration；　as　of　the　noisiest　way　of　emphasis。　　Is　the　same　word　wanted　again；　he　will　examine　carefully　whether　the　altered　incidence　does　not　justify　and　require　an　altered　term；　which　the　world　is　quick　to　call　a　synonym。　　The　right　dictionary　of　synonyms　would　give　the　context　of　each　variant　in　the　usage　of　the　best　authors。　　To　enumerate　all　the　names　applied　by　Milton　to　the　hero　of　PARADISE　LOST；　without　reference　to　the　passages　in　which　they　occur；　would　be　a　foolish　labour；　with　such　reference；　the　task　is　made　a　sovereign　lesson　in　style。　　At　Hell　gates；　where　he　dallies　in　speech　with　his　leman　Sin　to　gain　a　passage　from　the　lower　World；　Satan　is　〃the　subtle　Fiend；〃　in　the　garden　of　Paradise　he　is　〃the　Tempter〃　and　〃the　Enemy　of　Mankind；〃　putting　his　fraud　upon　Eve　he　is　the　〃wily　Adder；〃　leading　her　in　full　course　to　the　tree　he　is　〃the　dire　Snake；〃　springing　to　his　natural　height　before　the　astonished　gaze　of　the　cherubs　he　is　〃the　grisly　King。〃　　Every　fresh　designation　elaborates　his　character　and　history；　emphasises　the　situation；　and　saves　a　sentence。　　So　it　is　with　all　variable　appellations　of　concrete　objects；　and　even　in　the　stricter　and　more　conventional　region　of　abstract　ideas　the　same　law　runs。　　Let　a　word　be　changed　or　repeated；　it　brings　in　either　case　its　contribution　of　emphasis；　and　must　be　carefully　chosen　for　the　part　it　is　to　play；　lest　it　should　upset　the　business　of　the　piece　by　irrelevant　clownage　in　the　midst　of　high　matter；　saying　more　or　less　than　is　set　down　for　it　in　the　author's　purpose。

The　chameleon　quality　of　language　may　claim　yet　another　illustration。　　Of　origins　we　know　nothing　certainly；　nor　how　words　came　by　their　meanings　in　the　remote　beginning；　when　speech；　like　the　barnacle…goose　of　the　herbalist；　was　suspended　over　an　expectant　world；　ripening　on　a　tree。　　But　this　we　know；　that　language　in　its　mature　state　is　fed　and　fattened　on　metaphor。　Figure　is　not　a　late　device　of　the　rhetorician；　but　the　earliest　principle　of　change　in　language。　　The　whole　process　of　speech　is　a　long　series　of　exhilarating　discoveries；　whereby　words；　freed　from　the　swaddling　bands　of　their　nativity；　are　found　capable　of　new　relations　and　a　wider　metaphorical　employ。　　Then；　with　the　growth　of　exact　knowledge；　the　straggling　associations　that　attended　the　word　on　its　travels　are　straitened　and　confined；　its　meaning　is　settled；　adjusted；　and　balanced；　that　it　may　bear　its　part　in　the　scrupulous　deposition　of　truth。　　Many　are　the　words　that　have　run　this　double　course；　liberated　from　their　first　homely　offices　and　transformed　by　poetry；　reclaimed　in　a　more　abstract　sense；　and　appropriated　to　a　new　set　of　facts　by　science。　　Yet　a　third　chance　awaits　them　when　the　poet；　thirsty　for　novelty；　passes　by　the　old　simple　founts　of　figure　to　draw　metaphor　from　the　latest　technical　applications　of　specialised　terms。　　Everywhere　the　intuition　of　poetry；　impatient　of　the　sturdy　philosophic　cripple　that　lags　so　far　behind；　is　busy　in　advance　to　find　likenesses　not　susceptible　of　scientific　demonstration；　to　leap　to　comparisons　that　satisfy　the　heart　while　they　leave　the　colder　intellect　only　half　convinced。　　When　an　elegant　dilettante　like　Samuel　Rogers　is　confronted　with　the　principle　of　gravitation　he　gives　voice　to　science　in　verse：…


That　very　law　which　moulds　a　tear；　And　bids　it　trickle　from　its　source；　That　law　preserves　the　earth　a　sphere；　And　guides　the　planets　in　their　course。


But　a　seer　like　Wordsworth　will　never　be　content　to　write　tunes　for　a　text…book　of　physics；　he　boldly　confounds　the　arbitrary　limits　of　matter　and　morals　in　one　splendid　apostrophe　to　Duty：…


Flowers　laugh　before　thee　on　their　beds；　And　fragrance　in　thy　footing　treads；　Thou　dost　preserve　the　stars　from　wrong；　And　the　most　ancient　heavens；　through　thee；　are　fresh　and　strong。


Poets；　it　is　said；　anticipate　science；　here　in　these　four　lines　is　work　for　a　thousand　laboratories　for　a　thousand　years。　　But　the　truth　has　been　understated；　every　writer　and　every　speaker　works　ahead　of　science；　expressing　analogies　and　contrasts；　likenesses　and　differences；　that　will　not　abide　the　apparatus　of　proof。　　The　world　of　perception　and　will；　of　passion　and　belief；　is　an　uncaptured　virgin；　airily　deriding　from　afar　the　calculated　advances　and　practised　modesty　of　the　old　bawd　Science；　turning　again　to　shower　a　benediction　of　unexpected　caresses　on　the　most　cavalier　of　her　wooers；　Poetry。　　This　world；　the　child　of　Sense　and　Faith；　shy；　wild；　and　provocative；　for　ever　lures　her　lovers　to　the　chase；　and　the　record　of　their　hopes　and　conquests　is　contained　in　the　lover's　language；　made　up　wholly　of　parable　and　figure　of　speech。　　There　is　nothing　under　the　sun　nor　beyond　it　that　does　not　concern　man；　and　it　is　the　unceasing　effort　of　humanity；　whether　by　letters　or　by　science；　to　bring　〃the　commerce　of　the　mind　and　of　things〃　to　terms　of　nearer　correspondence。　　But　Literature；　ambitious　to　touch　life　on　all　its　sides；　distrusts　the　way　of　abstraction；　and　can　hardly　be　brought　to　abandon　the　point　of　view　whence　things　are　seen　in　their　immediate　relation　to　the　individual　soul。　　This　kind　of　research　is　the　work　of　letters；　here　are　facts　of　human　life　to　be　noted　that　are　never　like　to　be　numerically　tabulated；　changes　and　developments　that　defy　all　metrical　standards　to　be　traced　and　described。　　The　greater　men　of　science　have　been　cast　in　so　generous　a　mould　that　they　have　recognised　the　partial　nature　of　their　task；　they　have　known　how　to　play　with　science　as　a　pastime；　and　to　win　and　wear　her　decorations　for　a　holiday　favour。　　They　have　not　emaciated　the　fulness　of　their　faculties　in　the　name　of　certainty；　nor　cramped　their　humanity　for　the　promise　of　a　future　good。　　They　have　been　the　servants　of　Nature；　not　the　slaves　of　method。　　But　the　grammarian　of　the　laboratory　is　often　the　victim　of　his　trade。　　He　staggers　forth　from　his　workshop；　where　prolonged　concentration　on　a　mechanical　task；　directed　to　a　provisional　and　doubtful　goal；　has　dimmed　his　faculties；　the　glaring　motley　of　the　world；　bathed　in　sunligh