Kitap 9
2.26
Virgil has combined apostrollphe and parenthesis in the well-known passage: Aen. viii. 642. Next Mettus the swift cars asunder tore, (Better, false Alban, hadst thou kept thy troth!) And Tullus dragged the traitors' mangled limbs. . . These figures and the like, which consist in change,
2.27
addition, omission, and the order of words, serve to attract the attention of the audience and do not allow it to flag, rousing it from time to time by some specially striking figure, while they derive something of their charm from their very resemblance to blemishes, just as a trace of bitterness in food will sometimes tickle the palate. But this result will only be obtained if figures are not excessive in number nor all of the same type or combined or closely packed, since economy in their use, no less than variety, will prevent the hearer being surfeited.
2.28
There is a more striking class of figure, which does not merely depend on the form of the language for its effect, but lends both charm and force to the thought as well. The first figure of this class which calls for notice is that which is produced by addition. Of this there are various kinds. Words, for instance, may be doubled with a view to amplification, as in I have slain, I have slain, not Spurius Maelius Cic. pro Mil. xxvii. 72. (where the first I have slain states what has been done, while the second emphasises it), or to excite pity, as in Ah! Corydon, Corydon. Ecl. ii. 69.
