POETIC/LITERARY DEVICES

William Wordsworth defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of

powerful 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 the

course 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.
P.2. The Brook: by Alfred Lord Tennyson
1. For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
B. Simile: a literary device often used by poets for comparison;
A simile is a figure of speech which is used to compare the quality of two

dissimilar objects or things using words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’

Example:
William Shakespeare’s words in Antony and Cleopatra (II ii 196 FF)

The barge she sat in, like bernis’d throne

Burn’d on the water
is a comparison of the beauty of Cleopatra’s throne with her burning barge.

P.1. Palanquin Bearers: by Sarojini Naidu

1. She sways like a
flower
2. She skims like a bird.
3. She floats like a laugh
4. She is like a pearl on
a string.
5. She hangs like a star.
6. She springs like a
beam.
7. She falls like a tear.

Some more examples :( out of TB)

1. The snow was like a 5. The lullaby was like
blanket. the hush of the
2. The snow blanketed winter.
the earth. 6. He was as brave as a
3. The deer ran like the lion
 wind. 7. He eats like a bird.
4. In terms of beauty, 8. She is slow as
she was every bit molasses.
Cleopatra's match.

P.2. The Brook: by Alfred Lord Tennyson

C. Metaphor: Figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of

object or action is used in place of another to suggest a likeness

or analogy between them (as in "the ship plows the seas" or "a

volley of oaths").

A metaphor is an implied comparison (as in "a marble brow"), in

contrast to the explicit comparison of the simile ("a brow white

as marble"). Metaphor is common at all levels of language and is

fundamental in poetry, in which its varied functions range from

merely noting a likeness to serving as a central concept and

controlling image.

C. Rhyme Scheme. Compose rhymes, write words or lines of poetry that end in similar
sounds; be similar in sound, sound alike or identical

n. similarity of sound at the end of words or lines of poetry; word that ends with a

sound 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. n. use of similar phonetic sounds at the beginning of adjoining words . Repetition of

consonant sounds in two or more neighbouring words or syllables.

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

end 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 sally 6. a field and fallow 11. I slip, I slide, I
2. hills I hurry 7. a fairy foreland gloom, I glance
3. twenty thorpes 8. with willow-weed and 12.skimming
4. Phillip’s farm I mallow swallows
flow 9. a foamy flake 13.sandy shallows
5. babble on the 10.golden gravel 14.murmur under
pebbles moon
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 it

denotes, 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 is

called Personification. The brook has been personified in the poem.

G. repetition

Example:
P1. Palanquin Bearers: by Sarojini Naidu
1. Lightly, O lightly,
2. Gaily, O gaily,
3. Softly, O softly,