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[46]
But in the figurative form of irony the speaker disguises his entire meaning, the disguise being apparent
rather than confessed. For in the trope the conflict
is purely verbal, while in the figure the meaning, and
sometimes the whole aspect of our case, conflicts with
the language and the tone of voice adopted; nay, a
man's whole life may be coloured with irony, as was
the case with Socrates, who was called an ironist
because he assumed the role of an ignorant man lost
in wonder at the wisdom of others. Thus, as continued metaphor develops into allegory, so a sustained
series of tropes develops into this figure.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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