As a contribution to the current discussion of metaphor, I have
taken the liberty of asking Aristotle, a noted expert on the
subject, to make a guest appearance on our list to give us his views
on the matter. Professor, please:
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Metaphor consists in giving the thing a name that belongs to
something else; the transference being either from the genus to
species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or on
grounds of analogy.
That from genus to species is exemplified in 'Here stands my ship';
for lying at anchor is the 'standing' of a particular kind of thing.
That from species to genus in 'Truly ten thousand good deeds has
Ulysses wrought', where 'ten thousand', which is a particular large
number, is put in place of the generic 'a large number'.
That from species to species in 'Drawing the life with the bronze'
and in 'Severing with the enduring bronze'; where the poet uses
'draw' in the sense of 'sever' and 'sever' in that of 'draw' both
words meaning to 'take away' something.
That from analogy is possible whenever there are four terms so
related that the second is to the first as the fourth is to the
third. For instance, as old age is to life, so evening is to day;
one will accordingly describe evening as 'the old age of the day',
and old age as the 'evening' or 'sunset of life'.
It may be that the terms thus related have no special name of their
own, but for all that they will be metaphorically described in just
the same way. Thus to cast forth seed-corn is called 'sowing'; but
to cast forth flame, as said of the sun, has no special name. This
nameless act, however, stands in just the same relation to its
object, sunlight, as sowing to the seed-corn. Hence the expression
in the poet, 'sowing around a god-created flame.'
There is also another form of qualified metaphor. Having given the
thing the alien name, one may by a negative addition deny it one of
the attributes naturally associated with its new name. An instance
of this would be to call the shield not the 'cup of Ares' [by
analogy with 'the cup of Dinonysus'], but a 'cup that holds no
wine.'
It is a great thing, indeed, to make a proper use of poetical forms.
But the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is
the one thing that cannot be learnt from others; and it is also a
sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an intuitive
perception of the similarity of dissimilars.
-- abridged from Poetics, tr I. Bywater
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