I need help in identifying the figure of speech in the following statement: "Your reason, dear venom, give thy reason." Any ideas?
One of these. Which one, do you think?
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html#42
http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/rhetoric.html#28
To identify the figure of speech in the given statement, you can start by analyzing the language used and looking for any deviations from the literal meaning. In this case, the phrase "dear venom" indicates that the speaker is addressing someone or something as both dear and venomous, which would be contradictory in a literal sense.
The figure of speech in this statement is known as an apostrophe. Apostrophe is a figure of speech where the speaker addresses an absent or imaginary person or thing as if they were present and able to respond. In this case, the speaker is personifying "venom" as if it were a person and directly addressing it, asking for its reasoning.
By recognizing the contradicting and poetic nature of the language, and understanding the concept of apostrophe, you can identify the figure of speech used in the statement.