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Question
In poetry, very often, there are lines in which the poet seems to talk directly to an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing/object. Such a tactic/device used by the poet is the Figure of Speech ‘Apostrophe’.
For example,
Twinkle, twinkle little star ...
Death! Where is thy sting?
O, Caveman! I wish I could live with you.
Now, complete the following, creating an example of an Apostrophe of your own.
- O, Life! How ______
- Dear God, Please ______
- Books! You are ______
- Exams! I wish ______
- O, You beautiful sky ______
Solution
- O, Life! How mysterious you are!
- Dear God, Please help me be humble and kind!
- Books! You are the most amazing friends I can ever have!
- Exams! I wish you could be easier!
- O, You beautiful sky your vastness amazes me!
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RELATED QUESTIONS
The poet uses alliteration to heighten the musical quality of the sonnet. Working in pairs, underline the examples of alliteration in the poem.
There are a number of literary devices used in the poem. Some of them have been listed below. Choose the right ones and write them down in the table as shown in the example. In each of the cases, explain what they mean.
| simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification. hyperbole, repetition, |
| 1. The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: | Simile; the wedding guest was completely under the control of the mariner |
| 2. Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top | |
| 3. The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he | |
| 4. The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she | |
| 5. And now the storm-blast came, and he was tyrannous and strong: | |
| 6. With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe | |
| 7. The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around |
Find examples of the use of interesting sounds (Onomatopoeia) from the poem and explain their effect on the reader.
| 1. The ice 'cracked and growled, and roared and howled' |
Coleridge uses onomatopoeic words which use harsh 'ck' sounds to make the ice sound brutal. He also gives the ice animal sounds to give the impression it has come alive and is attacking the ship |
Alliteration is the repetition of sounds in words, usually the first sound. Sibilance is a special form of alliteration using the softer consonants that create hissing sounds, or sibilant sounds. These consonants and digraphs include s, sh, th, ch, z, f, x, and soft c.
Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it represents for a rhetorical or artistic effect of bringing out the full flavor of words. The sounds literally make the meaning in such words as “buzz,” “crash,” “whirr,” “clang” “hiss,” “purr,” “squeak,” etc.lt Is also used by poets to convey their subject to the reader. For example, In the last lines of Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem ‘Come Down, O Maid’, m and n sounds produce an atmosphere of murmuring Insects:
… the moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
Notice how D H Lawrence uses both these devices effectively in the following stanza.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
To what effect has the poet used these devices? How has it added to your understanding of the subject of the poem? You may record your understanding of snake characteristics under the following headings:
(a) Sound
(b) Movement
(c) Shape
Find out the examples of ‘Metaphor’ from the poem.
Find examples from the poem that contains:
Similie : _______________________________
Metaphor : ___________________________
Onomatopoeia : _____________________
In poetry, when words/ideas are arranged in ascending order of importance, the figure of speech used is called ‘Climax’. For example, Man should work for his family, his country, but most of all for God.
- Pick out two examples of ‘Climax’ from the poem.
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Antithesis : _____________________.
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Repetition:
Pick out from the poem two examples of each.
Onomatopoeia
Pick out from the poem two examples of each.
Metaphor
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
____________ but still we keep a bower quiet for us____________ .
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall ____________.
Match the lines with the Figures of Speech.
| Lines | Figures of Speech |
| 1. In wondrous merry mood | Tautology |
| 2. They were so queer, so very queer. | Alliteration |
| 3. And saw him peep within | Onomatopoeia |
| 4. The grin grew broad. | Repetition |
| 5. And shot from ear to ear. | Hyperbole |
| 6. He broke into a roar. | Repetition |
| 7. Ten days and nights with sleepless eye | Transferred Epithet |
Identify the Figure of Speech in the following line.
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.
Identify the Figure of Speech in the following line.
Not one is demented with the mania of owning things.
Identify the Figure of Speech in the following line.
No one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
Explain the Figure of Speech in the following line.
Rest in the bottom lay-PUN because _________________.
‘Pun’ can be defined as a play on words based on their different meanings. Example: ‘Writing with a broken pencil is pointless.’ In this poem, there is an example of Pun. Find and make a sentence of your own. Share a joke with the class where the use of ‘Pun’ creates humour.
Find out examples from the poem.
Alliteration
Find out examples from the poem.
Personification
Alliteration is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of words in a phrase, sentence, etc. such as ‘That life is lived it's very best.’
Find out more examples of Alliteration from other poems in your book.
Pick out lines that contain:
Alliteration
Pick out lines that contain:
Hyperbole
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
“And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
With worn-out tools ____________.
Pick out line that contain the following Figures of Speech.
Personification
Pick out lines that contain the following Figure of Speech.
Metaphor
Complete the following example of Hyperbole using words from the bracket below.
She wept____________of tears.
Complete the following examples of Hyperbole using words from the bracket below.
He runs faster than a ____________.
Pick from the poem lines which contain the Figures of speech.
Inversion
Pick from the poem lines which contain the Figures of speech.
Onomatopoeia
Pick out one or two other examples of allusion from the story and comment briefly on the comparison made.
