a figure in rhetoric, whereby we make use of terms which, in
their proper signification, mean something else than what they are
brought to denote; or it is a figure whereby we say one thing, expecting
it shall be understood of another, to which it alludes; or which, under
the literal sense of the words, conceals a foreign or distant meaning.
An allegory is, properly, a continued metaphor, or a series of several
metaphors in one or more sentences. Such is that beautiful allegory in
Horace, lib. i, Od. 14.
“_O navis, referent in mare te novi
Fluctus_,” _&c._
[O ship, shall new billows drive thee again to sea, &c.]
Where the ship is usually held to stand for the republic; waves, for
civil war; port, for peace and concord; oars, for soldiers; and mariners
for magistrates. Thus, also, in Prior’s Henry and Emma, Emma describes
her constancy to Henry in the following allegorical manner:--
“Did I but purpose to embark with thee
On the smooth surface of a summer’s sea,
While gentle zephyrs play with prosperous gales,
And fortune’s favour fills the swelling sails;
But would forsake the ship, and make the shore,
When the winds whistle, and the tempests roar?”
Cicero, likewise, speaking of himself, in Pison. c. 9, tom. vi, p. 187,
uses this allegorical language: “Nor was I so timorous, that, after I
had steered the ship of the state through the greatest storms and waves,
and brought her safe into port, I should fear the cloud of your
forehead, or your colleague’s pestilential breath. I saw other winds, I
perceived other storms, I did not withdraw from other impending
tempests; but I exposed myself singly to them for the common safety.”
Here the state is compared to a ship, and all the things said of it
under that image, are expressed in metaphors made use of to denote the
dangers with which it had been threatened. We have also a very fine
example of an allegory in Psalm lxxx; in which the people of Israel are
represented under the image of a vine, and the figure is supported
throughout with great correctness and beauty. Whereas, if, instead of
describing the vine as wasted by the boar from the wood, and devoured by
the wild beasts of the field, the Psalmist had said, it was afflicted by
Heathens, or overcome by enemies, which is the real meaning, the
figurative and the literal meaning would have been blended, and the
allegory ruined. The learned Bishop Lowth, _De Sacrâ Poesi Hebræorum,
Præl._ 10, 11, has specified three forms of allegory that occur in
sacred poetry. The first is that which rhetoricians call a continued
metaphor. When several metaphors succeed each other, they alter the form
of the composition; and this succession has very properly, in reference
to the etymology of the word, been denominated by the Greeks αλληγορια,
an allegory; although Aristotle, instead of considering it as a new
species of figure, has referred it to the class of metaphors. The
principle of allegory in this sense of the term, and of the simple
metaphor, is the same; nor is it an easy matter to restrict each to its
proper limit, and to mark the precise termination of the one, and the
commencement of the other. This eminently judicious critic observes,
that when the Hebrew poets use the congenial figures of metaphor,
allegory, and comparison, particularly in the prophetic poetry, they
adopt a peculiar mode of doing it, and seldom regulate the imagery which
they introduce by any fixed principle or standard. Not satisfied with a
simple metaphor, they often run it into an allegory, or blend with it a
direct comparison. The allegory sometimes follows, and sometimes
precedes the simile: to this is added a frequent change of imagery, as
well as of persons and tenses; and thus are displayed an energy and
boldness, both of expression and meaning, which are unconfined by any
stated rules, and which mark the discriminating genius of the Hebrew
poetry. Thus, in Gen. xlix, 9, “Judah is a lion’s whelp;” this metaphor
is immediately drawn out into an allegory, with a change of person:
“From the prey, my son, thou art gone up,” that is, to the mountains,
which is understood; and in the succeeding sentences the person is again
changed, the image is gradually advanced, and the metaphor is joined
with a comparison that is repeated.
“He stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion;
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him?”
A similar instance occurs in the prophecy, recorded in Psalm cx, 3,
which explicitly foretels the abundant increase of the Gospel on its
first promulgation. This kind of allegory, however, sometimes assumes a
more regular and perfect form, and then occupies the whole subject and
compass of the discourse. An example of this kind occurs in Solomon’s
well known allegory, Eccles. xii, 2–6, in which old age is so admirably
depicted. There is also, in Isaiah xxviii, 24–29, an allegory, which,
with no less elegance of imagery, is more simple and regular, as well as
more just and complete, both in the form and the method of treating it.
Another kind of allegory is that which, in the proper and more
restricted sense, may be called a parable; and consists of a continued
narration of some fictitious event, accommodated, by way of similitude,
to the illustration of some important truth. The Greeks call these
allegories αινοι or apologues, and the Latins _fabulæ_, or fables. (See
_Parable_.) The third species of allegory, which often occurs in the
prophetic poetry, is that in which a double meaning is couched under the
same words, or when the same discourse, differently interpreted,
designates different events, dissimilar in their nature, and remote as
to time. These different relations are denominated the literal and
mystical senses. This kind of allegory, which the learned prelate calls
mystical, seems to derive its origin from the principles of the Jewish
religion; and it differs from the two former species in a variety of
respects. In these allegories the writer may adopt any imagery that is
most suitable to his fancy or inclination; but the only proper materials
for this allegory must be supplied from the sacred rites of the Hebrews
themselves; and it can only be introduced in relation to such things as
are immediately connected with the Jewish religion, or their immediate
opposites. The former kinds partake of the common privileges of poetry;
but the mystical allegory has its foundation in the nature of the Jewish
economy, and is adapted solely to the poetry of the Hebrews. Besides, in
the other forms of allegory, the exterior or ostensible imagery is mere
fiction, and the truth lies altogether in the interior or remote sense;
but in this allegory each idea is equally agreeable to truth. The
exterior or ostensible image is itself a reality; and although it
sustains another character, it does not wholly lay aside its own. There
is also a great variety in the use and conduct of the mystical allegory;
in the modes in which the corresponding images are arranged, and in
which they are obscured or eclipsed by one another. Sometimes the
obvious or literal sense is so prominent and conspicuous, both in the
words and sentiments, that the remote or figurative sense is scarcely
permitted to glimmer through it. On the other hand, the figurative sense
is more frequently found to beam forth with so much perspicuity and
lustre, that the literal sense is quite cast into the shade, or becomes
indiscernible. Sometimes the principal or figurative idea is exhibited
to the attentive eye with a constant and equal light; and sometimes it
unexpectedly glares upon us, and breaks forth with sudden and
astonishing coruscations, like a flash of lightning bursting from the
clouds. But the mode or form of this figure which possesses the chief
beauty and elegance, is, when the two images, equally conspicuous, run,
as it were, parallel throughout the whole poem, mutually illustrating
and correspondent to each other. The learned author has illustrated
these observations by instances selected from Psalms ii, and lxxii. He
adds, that the mystical allegory is, on account of the obscurity
resulting from the nature of the figure, and the style of the
composition, so agreeable to the nature of the prophecy, that it is the
form which it generally, and indeed lawfully, assumes, as best adapted
to the prediction of future events. It describes events in a manner
exactly conformable to the intention of prophecy; that is, in a dark,
disguised, and intricate manner, sketching out, in a general way, their
form and outline; and seldom descending to a minuteness of description
and exactness of detail.
their proper signification, mean something else than what they are
brought to denote; or it is a figure whereby we say one thing, expecting
it shall be understood of another, to which it alludes; or which, under
the literal sense of the words, conceals a foreign or distant meaning.
An allegory is, properly, a continued metaphor, or a series of several
metaphors in one or more sentences. Such is that beautiful allegory in
Horace, lib. i, Od. 14.
“_O navis, referent in mare te novi
Fluctus_,” _&c._
[O ship, shall new billows drive thee again to sea, &c.]
Where the ship is usually held to stand for the republic; waves, for
civil war; port, for peace and concord; oars, for soldiers; and mariners
for magistrates. Thus, also, in Prior’s Henry and Emma, Emma describes
her constancy to Henry in the following allegorical manner:--
“Did I but purpose to embark with thee
On the smooth surface of a summer’s sea,
While gentle zephyrs play with prosperous gales,
And fortune’s favour fills the swelling sails;
But would forsake the ship, and make the shore,
When the winds whistle, and the tempests roar?”
Cicero, likewise, speaking of himself, in Pison. c. 9, tom. vi, p. 187,
uses this allegorical language: “Nor was I so timorous, that, after I
had steered the ship of the state through the greatest storms and waves,
and brought her safe into port, I should fear the cloud of your
forehead, or your colleague’s pestilential breath. I saw other winds, I
perceived other storms, I did not withdraw from other impending
tempests; but I exposed myself singly to them for the common safety.”
Here the state is compared to a ship, and all the things said of it
under that image, are expressed in metaphors made use of to denote the
dangers with which it had been threatened. We have also a very fine
example of an allegory in Psalm lxxx; in which the people of Israel are
represented under the image of a vine, and the figure is supported
throughout with great correctness and beauty. Whereas, if, instead of
describing the vine as wasted by the boar from the wood, and devoured by
the wild beasts of the field, the Psalmist had said, it was afflicted by
Heathens, or overcome by enemies, which is the real meaning, the
figurative and the literal meaning would have been blended, and the
allegory ruined. The learned Bishop Lowth, _De Sacrâ Poesi Hebræorum,
Præl._ 10, 11, has specified three forms of allegory that occur in
sacred poetry. The first is that which rhetoricians call a continued
metaphor. When several metaphors succeed each other, they alter the form
of the composition; and this succession has very properly, in reference
to the etymology of the word, been denominated by the Greeks αλληγορια,
an allegory; although Aristotle, instead of considering it as a new
species of figure, has referred it to the class of metaphors. The
principle of allegory in this sense of the term, and of the simple
metaphor, is the same; nor is it an easy matter to restrict each to its
proper limit, and to mark the precise termination of the one, and the
commencement of the other. This eminently judicious critic observes,
that when the Hebrew poets use the congenial figures of metaphor,
allegory, and comparison, particularly in the prophetic poetry, they
adopt a peculiar mode of doing it, and seldom regulate the imagery which
they introduce by any fixed principle or standard. Not satisfied with a
simple metaphor, they often run it into an allegory, or blend with it a
direct comparison. The allegory sometimes follows, and sometimes
precedes the simile: to this is added a frequent change of imagery, as
well as of persons and tenses; and thus are displayed an energy and
boldness, both of expression and meaning, which are unconfined by any
stated rules, and which mark the discriminating genius of the Hebrew
poetry. Thus, in Gen. xlix, 9, “Judah is a lion’s whelp;” this metaphor
is immediately drawn out into an allegory, with a change of person:
“From the prey, my son, thou art gone up,” that is, to the mountains,
which is understood; and in the succeeding sentences the person is again
changed, the image is gradually advanced, and the metaphor is joined
with a comparison that is repeated.
“He stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion;
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him?”
A similar instance occurs in the prophecy, recorded in Psalm cx, 3,
which explicitly foretels the abundant increase of the Gospel on its
first promulgation. This kind of allegory, however, sometimes assumes a
more regular and perfect form, and then occupies the whole subject and
compass of the discourse. An example of this kind occurs in Solomon’s
well known allegory, Eccles. xii, 2–6, in which old age is so admirably
depicted. There is also, in Isaiah xxviii, 24–29, an allegory, which,
with no less elegance of imagery, is more simple and regular, as well as
more just and complete, both in the form and the method of treating it.
Another kind of allegory is that which, in the proper and more
restricted sense, may be called a parable; and consists of a continued
narration of some fictitious event, accommodated, by way of similitude,
to the illustration of some important truth. The Greeks call these
allegories αινοι or apologues, and the Latins _fabulæ_, or fables. (See
_Parable_.) The third species of allegory, which often occurs in the
prophetic poetry, is that in which a double meaning is couched under the
same words, or when the same discourse, differently interpreted,
designates different events, dissimilar in their nature, and remote as
to time. These different relations are denominated the literal and
mystical senses. This kind of allegory, which the learned prelate calls
mystical, seems to derive its origin from the principles of the Jewish
religion; and it differs from the two former species in a variety of
respects. In these allegories the writer may adopt any imagery that is
most suitable to his fancy or inclination; but the only proper materials
for this allegory must be supplied from the sacred rites of the Hebrews
themselves; and it can only be introduced in relation to such things as
are immediately connected with the Jewish religion, or their immediate
opposites. The former kinds partake of the common privileges of poetry;
but the mystical allegory has its foundation in the nature of the Jewish
economy, and is adapted solely to the poetry of the Hebrews. Besides, in
the other forms of allegory, the exterior or ostensible imagery is mere
fiction, and the truth lies altogether in the interior or remote sense;
but in this allegory each idea is equally agreeable to truth. The
exterior or ostensible image is itself a reality; and although it
sustains another character, it does not wholly lay aside its own. There
is also a great variety in the use and conduct of the mystical allegory;
in the modes in which the corresponding images are arranged, and in
which they are obscured or eclipsed by one another. Sometimes the
obvious or literal sense is so prominent and conspicuous, both in the
words and sentiments, that the remote or figurative sense is scarcely
permitted to glimmer through it. On the other hand, the figurative sense
is more frequently found to beam forth with so much perspicuity and
lustre, that the literal sense is quite cast into the shade, or becomes
indiscernible. Sometimes the principal or figurative idea is exhibited
to the attentive eye with a constant and equal light; and sometimes it
unexpectedly glares upon us, and breaks forth with sudden and
astonishing coruscations, like a flash of lightning bursting from the
clouds. But the mode or form of this figure which possesses the chief
beauty and elegance, is, when the two images, equally conspicuous, run,
as it were, parallel throughout the whole poem, mutually illustrating
and correspondent to each other. The learned author has illustrated
these observations by instances selected from Psalms ii, and lxxii. He
adds, that the mystical allegory is, on account of the obscurity
resulting from the nature of the figure, and the style of the
composition, so agreeable to the nature of the prophecy, that it is the
form which it generally, and indeed lawfully, assumes, as best adapted
to the prediction of future events. It describes events in a manner
exactly conformable to the intention of prophecy; that is, in a dark,
disguised, and intricate manner, sketching out, in a general way, their
form and outline; and seldom descending to a minuteness of description
and exactness of detail.