POETIC DEVICES

POETIC DEVICES ARE A FORM OF LITERARY DEVICE

USED IN POETRY. A POEM IS CREATED OUT OF POETIC
DEVICES COMPOSITE OF STRUCTURAL, GRAMMATICAL,
RHYTHMIC, METRIC, VERBAL, AND VISUAL ELEMENTS.
THEY ARE ESSENTIAL TOOLS THAT A POET USES TO
CREATE RHYTHM, ENHANCE A POEM'S MEANING, OR
INTENSIFY A MOOD OR FEELING.
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS ALLITERATION

Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds of

neighboring words.

Example include:-
1.
“When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?”(The last lesson
of the afternoon)
2.
“So show me, son,”(Once upon a time)“
3.
Can seldom see-through”(Caged bird)“
4.
Now I ask other speakers to speak”(Goodbye Party for Miss
Pushpa T.S)“
5.
With leaves whispering in the wind”(Crossing the
 river) ASSONANCE

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (not just letters) in

words that are close together. The sounds don't have to be at the
beginning of the term.

Example include:-
1.
“i”sound in“Of their insults in punishment?-I will not!-(The last
lesson of the afternoon)
2.
“e”sounds in“while their left hands search my empty pockets.
(Once upon a time)
3.
“i”sound in“distant hills”(Caged bird)
4.
“a”sounds in“with men also ladies also”(Goodbye Party for Miss
Pushpa T.S)
5.
“e”sounds in“and destroys trees, plants, shelters, and
lives. (Crossing the river)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS CONSONANCE

Consonance means repetitive sounds produced by

consonants with a sentence or phrase.

Example include:-
1.
 “b”sound has been repeated “but a bird that stalks down”(Caged
bird)
2.
“n”sound has been repeated “that’s gone son”(Once upon a time)
3.
“d”sound has been repeated “trade winds”(Caged bird)“
4.
o”sound has been repeated “block-cold eyes”(Once upon a time)
5.
“s”sound have been repeated “Still treads the shadow of his
foe”(Rime of the ancient mariner)

METAPHOR
A metaphor makes a comparison between two, unlike things
or ideas.

Example include:-
1.
“My pack of unruly hounds”(The last lesson of the
afternoon) 2.
“The seed I spent or sown it where The land is his and none
of mine?”(Father to Son)
3.
“A caged bird”(Caged bird)”
4.
“Language is the sun”(An Elementary School Classroom in a
Slum) 5.
“Producing thoughts that were not those of other
people”(Childhood)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE
 READINGS HYPERBOLE

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses an exaggerated

statement to create a strong emotional response.

Example include:-
1.
“He names the sky his own”(Caged
bird) 2.
“Dares to claim the sky”(Caged bird)
3.
“His shadow shouts on a nightmare”(Caged
bird) 4.
“caged bird sings for freedom”(Caged bird)
5.
“His wings are clipped”(Caged bird)

SIMILE
A simile is a comparison between two unlike things using
the words. "like"or s."

Example include:-
1.
"Once upon a time when I was like you”(Once upon a
time)“ 2.
Their lives like catacombs”(An Elementary School Classroom in
a Slum)
3.
“you are beautiful and faded like an old opera tune”(A lady)“
 4.
His brown skin hung in strips like an ancient wallpaper”(The
fish)“ 5.
I have learned to wear many faces like dresses”(Once upon
a time)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS PERSONIFICATION

Personification gives human qualities to non-living things or

ideas. Example include:-

1.
“He sings for freedom”(Caged bird)
2.
“trees talk to me”(Once upon a time)
3.
“Their tongues ran naked”(An Elementary School Classroom in
a Slum)
4.
“Free Bird”(Caged bird)
5.
“open his throat to sing”(Caged bird)

IMAGERY
Imagery is the language used by poets, novelists, and
other writers to create images in the reader’s mind.

Example include:-
 1.
“Free Bird” for sight(Caged bird)
2.
“Back of wind” for feelings(Caged bird)
3.
“Orange sun rays is for sight”(Caged bird)
4.
“weigh down”(An Elementary School Classroom in a
Slum) 5.
“Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night”(Romeo and Juliet)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS REPETITION

Repetition is repeating words, phrases, lines, or

stanzas. Example include:-

1.
“A free bird thinks”(Caged bird)
2.
“once upon a time”(Once upon a time)
3.
“Break O Break open till they break the town”(An
Elementary School Classroom in a Slum)
4.
“Remember”(No men are foreign)
5.
“Pulled out”(On killing a tree)

OXYMORON
An oxymoron is two contradictory terms used

together. Example include:-

1.
“Beautiful tyrant”(Romeo and
Juliet) 2.
“Fiend angelical”(Romeo and
Juliet) 3.
“Dove-feather'd raven”(Romeo and
Juliet) 4.
“Wolvish-ravening lamb”(Romeo and
Juliet) 5.
“Damned saint”(Romeo and Juliet)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS IRONY

Irony occurs when there's a marked contrast between what is

said and what is meant or between appearance and reality.

Example include:-
1.
“born to pray and save”(September 1913)
2.
“The free bird”(Caged bird)
3.
“Where is my Romeo? (Romeo and Juliet)
4.
“The whole thing”(Romeo and Juliet)
5.
“Servingman says to Romeo,"Now I'll tell you without asking. My
master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you are not from the
 house of Montagues, I pray to come and crush a cup of wine.
Rest you merry"(Romeo and Juliet)

REFRAIN
A refrain is a line or group of lines that regularly repeat, usually at
the end of a stanza in a poem or the end of a verse in a song.

Example include:-
1.
“The caged bird sings, with a fearful trill, of things unknown,
but longed for still, and his tune is heard, on the distant hill, for
the caged bird, sings of freedom.”(Caged bird)
2.
“It’s with O’Leary in the grave”(September 1913)
3.
“Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign”(No men
are foreign)
4.
“Said the Duck to the Kangaroo”(The duck and the
Kangaroo) 5.
“O woeful, O woeful, woeful, woeful day!” (Romeo and Juliet)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS CAESURA

Caesura is the natural end to a poetic phrase, especially when

the term ends in the middle of a poetry line.

Example include:-

“Feel at home! come again.

 ”they say, and when I come. (Once upon a time)

“What is the point? To us both, it is all my aunt! (The last lesson

of the afternoon)

“I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us - don’t tell.
They’d banish - you know! (I’m Nobody! Who are you?)

“It is for you we speak, || not for ourselves;

You are abused || and by some putter-on
That will be damn’d for’t; || would I know the villain. (The
winter tales)

“My pack of unruly hands!

I cannot start(The last lesson in the afternoon)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS ENJAMBMENT
Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or clause across
a line break.

Example include:-
“And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
And shake hands without my
Heart. (Once upon a time)

“The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the
sighing trees and the fat worms waiting
on a dawn bright lawn, and he names
 the sky his own. (Caged bird)

“No longer now can I endure the brunt.

Of the books that lie out on the desks; a full threescore
Of several insults of blotted pages, and scrawl
Of slovenly work that they have offered me.”(The last lesson of
the afternoon)

“Friends, our dear sister

is departing for foreign in two-three days,
and we are meeting today
to wish her bon voyage. (Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S)

“When he shall dieTake him and cut him out in little

stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine.
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun. (Romeo and Juliet)
POETIC DEVICES IN THE SUGGESTIVE

READINGS ONOMATOPOEIA

Caesura is the natural end to a poetic phrase, especially when

the term ends in the middle of a poetry line.

Example include:-
“Once upon a time, a frog
Croaked away in Bingle Bog.”
So, here the poet used the word ‘croaked,’
which is a sound made by the frog (The frog and the nightingale)

“I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.
The words‘chatter’,‘trebles,’ ‘bubble,’and ‘babble’are used to show the
flowing water of a spring. (The Brook)

“Many a morning hath he there been seen,

With tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew,
Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs.”(Romeo and Juliet)

“The swish of the leaves.

It dances on the trees.
Closing my eyes softly.
The warm wind tickles my cheek swiftly.
Leaves rustle and crackle in the air.
If only you were there.”(Beauty of the Wind)

“The drip, drop of the rain.

It’s time to run. A big jump.
Splish splash goes into the puddle.
SQUEAL! And the child giggles happily.”(Splish Splash Splosh)
ALL THE POETIC DEVICES
USED ABOVE
7.
1.
8.
2.
9.
3.
10. 11. 12.
4.
13. 14. 15.
5.
ALLITERAT
6.
ION
 ASSONAN REPETITIO
CE N
CONSONA CAESURA
NCE ENJAMBM
METAPHO ENT
R ONOMATO
HYPERBOL POEIA
E IRONY
SIMILE OXYMORO
PERSONIFI N
CATION REFRAIN
IMAGERY

References
Lawrence, David Herbert. Last Lesson of the Afternoon. New York, 1996
Link: https://kalliope.org/en/text/lawrence2001061512

Okara, Gabriel. Once Upon a Time. Nigeria, 1978

Link: https://sahyadriliterature.blogspot.com/2018/09/poem-analysis-of
once-upon-time-by.html?m=1

Angelou, Maya. I know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 2009
 Link: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird

Ezekiel, Nissim. GoodBye Party for Miss Pushpa T.S., 1992

Link: http://www.english-for-students.com/Goodbye-Party.html

Ambani, Crossing the River. 2005

Link:
http://ncweb.du.ac.in/web/uploads/study/26032020_B.A.Prog.English%2
0Language%20Through%20Literature(Source%20SOL)_Unit%20-%201%20C
2-3-5.pd

Seth, Vikram. The Frog and the Nightingale. Evergreen Publication, 1994 Link:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-frog-and-the-nightingale/

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1834 Link:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the-rime-of-the
ancient-mariner-text-of-1834

Tyagi, Vaishnavi. Father to Son.

Link: https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/class-11/father-to-son.html

Spender, Stephen. An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, 1964

Link: https://www.successcds.net/cce-cbse/class-xii/english/an
elementary-school-classroom-in-a-slum.html

Lowell, Amy. A Lady, 1914

Link: https://poets.org/poem/lady

References
Natten, Markus. Childhood.
Link :https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/class-11/childhood.html

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet, 1597

Link: https://letterpile.com/poetry/Romeo-and-Juliet-Narrative-Poem-A
 Poetic-Summary-of-William-Shakespeares-Famous-Play

KIRKUP, JAMES. No Men Are Foreign, 1966

Link: https://byjus.com/cbse-notes/class-9-english-beehive-no-men-are
foreign-summary/

Patel, Gieve. On Killing a Tree. Poems published, 1966

Link: https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/class-9/on-killing-a-tree
class-9-cbse-english.html

Lawrence, David Herbert. A Winter's Tale, London, 1623

Link: https://poets.org/poem/winters-tale

Carter, James. Splish! Splash! Splosh.

Link: https://clpe.org.uk/poetryline/poems/splish-splash-splosh

YEATS, WILLIAM BUTLER. September 1913, Macmillan. 1914 Link:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57309/september-1913

Lear, Edward. The Duck and the Kangaroo, 1870

Link: https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/class-9/the-duck-and-the
kangaroo-class-9-english-poem.html

Bishop, Elizabeth. The Fish, 1950

Link: https://poets.org/poem/fish-2

Thank You.