, to prose, so the prose of the 16th century exhibited
many of the characteristics of verse. And of this general literary
feature euphuism is the most conspicuous example; for in its employment
of alliteration and antithesis, in addition to the excessive use of
illustration and simile which characterizes arcadianism and its
successors, the style of Lyly is transitional in structure as well as in
ornament. Moreover the alliteration, which is peculiar to English
euphuism, gives it a musical element which its continental parallels
lacked. The dividing line between alliteration and rhyme, and between
antithesis and rhythm, is not a broad one[80]. Indeed Pettie found it so
narrow that he occasionally lapsed into metrical rhythm. And so, though
we cannot say that euphuism is verse, we can say that it partakes of the
nature of verse. In this endeavour to provide an adequate structure for
the support of the mass of imagery that the taste of the age demanded,
it showed itself superior to the rival prose fashions. _Euphues_ is a
model of form beside the tedious prolixity of the _Arcadia_, or the
chaotic effusions of Nash. The weariness, which the modern reader feels
for the romance of Lyly, is due rather to the excessive quantity of its
metaphor, which was the fault of the age, than to its pedantic style.

[79] Raleigh, p. 45.

[80] This touches upon the famous dispute between Dr Schwan and Dr
Goodlet which is excellently dealt with by Mr Child, p. 77.

I write loosely of "style," but strictly speaking the euphuists paid
especial attention to diction. And here again the poetical and
aristocratic tendencies of euphuism show themselves. For diction, which
is the art of selection, the selection of apt words, is of course one of
the first essentials of poetic art, and is also more prominent in the
prose of Court literature than elsewhere. The precision, the _finesse_,
the subtlety, of French prose has only been attained by centuries of
attention to diction. English prose, on the other hand, is singularly
lacking in this quality; and for this cause it would never have produced
a Flaubert, despite its splendid achievements in style. Had euphuism
been more successful, it might have altered the whole aspect of later
English prose, by giving us in the 16th century that quality of diction
which did not become prominent in our prose until the days of Pater and
the purists.

And yet, though it failed in this particular, the influenc