Elegance & Euphuism = E: Blogging from A to Z

Welcome to another day of the Blogging from A to Z challenge. 

An E literary device challenged me a bit. I didn't want to go with elegy, so I found a more interesting one. One that was a learning experience for me.

Euphuism
(Merriam-Webster)
1: an elegant Elizabethan literary style marked by excessive use of balance, antithesis, and alliteration and by frequent use of similes drawn from mythology and nature
2: artificial elegance of language 

Named from Euphues (1579) the prose romance by John Lyly. According to Wikipedia: It (Euphues) consists of a preciously ornate and sophisticated style, employing in deliberate excess a wide range of literary devices such as antitheses, alliterations, repetitions and rhetorical questions. Classical learning and remote knowledge of all kinds are displayed.

"Is it not far better to abhor sins by the remembrance of others' faults, than by repentance of thine own follies?"Euphues 
I can't say this strongly enough. This. Is. Not. My. Style. 

My book club read The Elegance of the Hedgehog this past year. Although an interesting read with an intriguing main character, at times the prose felt condescending. Translated from French,too often the author (or possibly, the translator) seemed to be poking fun at those who couldn't fully understand a heightened use of language.

I'm a grammar geek and word nerd, but that doesn't mean I want to read Shakespeare or a Shakespeare wanna-be. Tell me a good story with proper grammar and you will make me happy. Most readers are not impressed with "big words" but worse... you never want to leave a reader feeling lost or insulted.

To me, poetry is where the best of all language should reside. When you have so few words to convey meaning, use the ones that have the most impact. 

Are you impressed with elegance in literature? Or, what might be a better question, do you enjoy using your Kindle look-up-a-word feature? *smiles*

Please hop over and check out other Es here .