POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

William Wordsworth defined poetry asthe spontaneous overflow ofpowerful feelings arising from
emotion recollected in tranquillity

A. Refrain: a poetic device often used by poets;A refrain is a line, a part of a line or a group of lines
which is repeated in thecourse of a poem and usually at the end of a stanza.

Example:P.1. Palanquin Bearers:

by Sarojini Naidu

1.................we glide and we sing,We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

wind.

4.In terms of beauty, she was every bit Cleopatra's match. 7.He eats like a bird.8.She is slow as
molasses.

P.2. The Brook:

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

C. Metaphor:

Figure of speechin which a word or phrase denoting one kind ofobject or action is used in place of
another to suggest a likenessor analogy between them (as in"the ship plows the seas"or"avolley of
oaths").Ametaphoris an implied comparison (as in"a marble brow"), incontrast to the explicit
comparison of thesimile("a brow whiteas marble"). Metaphor is common at all levels of language
and isfundamental in poetry, in which its varied functions range frommerely noting a likeness to
serving as a central concept andcontrolling image.

C. Rhyme Scheme

Compose rhymes, write words or lines of poetry that end in similarsounds; be similar in sound,
sound alike or identicaln.similarity of sound at the end of words or lines of poetry; word that ends
with asound similar to that of another word

Example:P.1. Palanquin Bearers:

by Sarojini Naidu:

Rhyme Scheme :(aa,bb,cc)

Pairs of rhyming words:

1.along, song; stream, dream; sing, string ;2.along, song; tide, bride; sing , string.

P.2. The Brook: by Alfred Lord Tennyson: Rhyme Scheme :(ab,ab)

Pairs of rhyming words:

1.

hern, fern; sally, valley; down, town; ridges, bridges; flow,go; river, ever.

2.

ways, bays; trebles, pebbles; fret, set; fallow, mallow; flow,go; river, ever.

3. out, trout; sailing, grayling; flake, break; travel, gravel; flow,go; river, ever.

4. plots, forget-me-nots; covers, lovers; glance, dance;swallows, shallows; stars, bars; wildernesses,
cresses; flow,go; river, ever.

P.3. The Solitary Reaper: by William Wordsworth

Rhyme Scheme:(ab,ab,cc,dd)

Pairs of rhyming words:D. Alliteration or head rhyme :

A frequently used poetic device;

1.Alliteration is the repetition of speech sounds in a sequence of nearby words. (TB)

2.use of similar phonetic sounds at the beginning of adjoining words .

Repetition ofconsonant sounds in two or more neighbouring words or syllables.

3.It is often discussed with assonance (the repetition of stressed vowel sounds withintwo or more
words with different end consonants) and consonance (the repetition ofend or medial consonants).

Example:P1. Palanquin Bearers:

by Sarojini Naidu

1.a laugh from the lips

2.a beam on the brow

P.2. The Brook:

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

1.a sudden sally2.hills I hurry3.twenty thorpes4.Phillips farm Iflow5.babble on thepebbles6.a field

and fallow7.a fairy foreland8.with willow-weed andmallow9.a foamy flake10.golden gravel

11.I slip, I slide, Igloom, I glance12.skimmingswallows13.sandy shallows14.murmur undermoon

P.3. the Solitary Reaper: by William Wordsworth

1.sings a melancholy strain

2.welcome notes to weary bands

3.silence of the seas

E. Onomatopoeia: (The Brook: by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

1. A word or a combination of words, whose sound seems to resemble the sound itdenotes, is called

Onomatopoeia

.2.

The fact of words containing sounds similar to noises they describe.

Example:

hiss, buzz, thud, etc; the use of words like this in a piece of writing

CHATTER, BABBLE, MURMUR, FRET, TREBLE

F. Personification :(The Brook:

by Alfred Lord Tennyson

A literary device by which an inanimate object is made to appear as a living creature iscalled
Personification. The brook has been personified in the poem.

repetition

Example:P1. Palanquin Bearers:

by Sarojini Naidu1.Lightly, O lightly,2.Gaily, O gaily,3.Softly, O softly,