The Aposiopesis,
an excellent figure for the ignorant, as "what shall I say?" when one has nothing to say: or "I can no more," when one really can no more. Expressions which the gentle reader is so good as never to take in earnest.
The Metaphor.
The first rule is to draw it from the lowest things, which is a certain way to sink the highest; as when you speak of the thunder of Heaven, say,
The lords above are angry and talk big[1].
Or if you would describe a rich man refunding his treasures, express it thus,
Tho' he (as said) may riches gorge, the spoil
Painful in massy vomit shall recoil:
Soon shell he perish with a swift decay,
Like his own ordure, cast with scorn away[2].
The second, that whenever you start a metaphor, you must be sure to run it down, and pursue it as far as it can go. If you get the scent of a state negotiation, follow it in this manner:
The stones and all the elements with thee
Shall ratify a strict confederacy;
Wild beasts their savage temper shall forget,
And for a firm alliance with thee treat;
The finny tyrant of the spacious seas
Shall send a scaly embassy for peace;
His plighted faith the crocodile shall keep,
And seeing thee, for joy sincerely weep[3].
