Word: adornment
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Dates: during 1873-1873
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...many sonnets and odes are there in which we have to wander through endless similes and comparisons to reach a point which is generally blunted by the very additions which are meant to adorn it! It is undeniable that a certain amount of figurative language is beautiful in a poem; indeed, if used with taste and skill, it may constitute the poem itself; but how much more true feeling there is in a sentiment when plainly and simply expressed, than when it is encumbered with an excess of figurative language! For instance, compare the two expressions: "Wilt thou remember...
...wisdom, - men who, by a theory of events, have ascertained to an hour the time of Homer's birth and death, - that the study of Aristophanes and other primitive pagans is calculated to elevate and purify the taste, to humanize our manners and conversation, to grace and adorn all our other acquirements...