Euphuism is a highly ornate, artificial style of writing that was popular in late 16th-century English literature, particularly in the works of John Lyly. It’s characterized by excessive use of rhetorical devices, balance, antithesis, alliteration, and similes drawn from nature or mythology.
✅ Definition:
A deliberately elaborate, decorative, and over-refined style of writing or speech, often using balanced sentences and excessive ornamentation.
💡 Example (original, modernized):
- “The mind, like the river, winding and restless, finds its way through the valleys of thought, reflecting the sun of wisdom upon the hills of knowledge.”
Notice the balance, natural imagery, and decorative phrasing—hallmarks of euphuism.
Another example (from Lyly’s style):
- “Beauty, being the mirror of the soul, shows not only what is, but what may be; as the glass of the fountain reflects the heavens above it.”
And there it is! Now go ahead and use euphuism in your CXC prep/CSEC prep.
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