St.
Francis School
English
Class VII
POETIC DEVICES
Poetic Devices are the instruments used by poets for the purpose of making
their poems interesting. They enrich the meaning and accentuate rhythmic
appeal of the poem. Let’s have a look at a few poetic devices explained below.
1. Metaphor
Metaphor (from the Greek language: meaning "transfer") is language that
directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that
compares two or more things not using like or as.
Example:
“Meadows have surprises,
You can find them if you look;
Walk softly through the velvet grass,
And listen by the brook.”
(Here the poet is comparing the texture of grass to that of velvet.)
2. Simile
A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced
with the word "like" or "as".
Example:
“He ran as still as water.”
(Here the poet compares the silent running of the fan to that of still water, using
“as”.)
3. Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of multiple
words in a series.
Example-
The rebel remarks on the need for rain.
Stand up straight.
4. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech.
It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is
not meant to be taken literally. Hyperboles are exaggerations to create emphasis
or effect.
Examples
The bag weighed a ton.
I was so hungry; I could eat a horse!
She's older than the hills.
I could sleep for a year; I was so tired.
I've told you a million times to help with the housework.
5. Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a poetic device that uses words to describe the sounds made
by all living things including people, animals, birds and all inanimate objects.
Example-
“Once there was a talking fan —
Electrical his chatter. “
(The poet uses the word ‘chatter’ to describe the noises made by the fan.)
6. Imagery
Imagery is a literary device used in poetry, novels, and other writing that uses
vivid description that appeals to a readers’ senses to create an image or idea in
their head.
Example-
“He wore a question mark for tail,
An overcoat of gray,
He sat up straight to eat a nut.
He liked to tease and play,
And if we ran around his tree,
He went the other way
The poet has given the visual description of the squirrel throughout the poem.
7. Synecdoche
Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to
represent the whole or the whole of something is used to represent part of it.
Examples:
Part of something is used to refer to the whole thing -
A hundred head of cattle (using the part head to refer to the whole animal)
The whole of a thing is used to represent part of it -
The world treated him badly (using the world to refer to part of the world)
8. Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a
sentence or verse.
Example-
1. The ant’s amazing mound.
(prominent sound of the vowel ‘a’)
2. I’m in bed I lie and I listen.
(prominent sound of the vowel ‘i’)
9. Consonance
Consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in successive words,
whether these sounds are placed at the word’s beginning, middle, or end.
Example-
“My brother tells lies to keep the shed for his den;
There isn’t anyone staring or making strange noises
(Prominent sound of the consonant ‘s’)
10. Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases in consecutive poetic lines.
Example:
Grown-ups say things like:
Speak up
Don’t talk with your mouth full
Don’t stare
Don’t point
Don’t pick your nose.
11. Enjambment
Enjambment is a literary device in which a line of poetry carries its idea or
thought over to the next line without a grammatical pause.
Example:
We were running
to find what had happened
beyond the hills.
12. Polysyndeton
Polysyndeton is a literary device in which coordinating conjunctions are used in
succession in order to achieve an artistic effect. Polysyndeton examples are
found in literature and in day-to-day conversations.
Example:
He has completed his essay and story and poem and diary.
Rebekah is wearing her weather and a hat and her muffler and her cap and her
trench coat. Maybe she’s freezing.
13. Personification
Personification is a figure of speech in which an idea or thing is given human
attributes and/or feelings or is spoken of as if it were human. Personification is a
common form of metaphor in that human characteristics are attributed to
nonhuman things. This allows writers to create life and motion within inanimate
objects, animals, and even abstract ideas by assigning them recognizable human
behaviours and emotions.
Example:
“He wore a question mark for tail,
An overcoat of gray,
He sat up straight to eat a nut.
He liked to tease and play,
And if we ran around his tree,
He went the other way.”
(The poet has personified the squirrel by using ‘he’ instead of ‘it’ for him.)
14. Refrain
Refrain is a poetic device that repeats, at regular intervals, in different stanzas.
However, sometimes, this repetition may involve only minor changes in its
wording. It also contributes to the rhyme of a poem and emphasizes an idea
through repetition.
For example:
It is magical, yes, this life that I live
Each day it gives something
Something it gives each day.
It is magical, absolutely magical the life that I live.
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