Figurative Language

Definition of Figurative Language

Figurative language means language in which figures of speech are used to make it effective, persuasive
and impactful. Whenever we think of it, often metaphors and similes spring to our minds. Writers use it
to go beyond the real meanings of the words to make a comparison and give the readers a new insight
into the content of their works. It also appeals to the senses of the readers. Figurative language can
appear in multiple forms with the use of different literary and rhetorical devices. According to Merriam
Webster’s Encyclopedia, figurative language has five different forms: understatement or emphasis,
relationship or resemblance, figures of sound, errors and verbal games.

Types of Figurative Language

It covers a wide range of literary devices and techniques, a few of them include:

 Simile
 Metaphor
 Personification
 Onomatopoeia
 Oxymoron
 Hyperbole
 Allusion
 Idiom
 Symbolism
 Alliteration
 Assonance
 Consonance

Examples of Figurative Language from Literature

Example 1

Simile:

Poised between going on and back, pulled

Both ways taut like a tight-rope walker,

Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball,

Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on!…

Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird,

He’s only flirting, crowd him, crowd him,

(The Base Stealer by Robert Francis)

The similes and word choice of this poem makes it a masterpiece. The poet use similes between the
lines to depict his scattered thoughts before taking action and makes comparison as, “like a tight-rope,”
“like a dropped ball,” and “hovers like an ecstatic bird.”
Example 2

Metaphor:

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill…
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

(I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings by Maya Angelou)

The entire poem is rich with metaphor as a bird in cage represents a group of those people who are
oppressed and cannot get freedom, and cage represents physical barriers, fear, addiction or society,
while the song of the bird represents true self yearning for something greater in life.

Example 3

Personification:

She sweeps with many-colored Brooms

And leaves the Shreds behind
Oh Housewife in the Evening West
Come back, and dust the Pond!

(She sweeps with many-colored Brooms by Emily Dickinson)

Dickinson uses personification of housewife to describe sunset in the very first line of this poem. She is
using a sweeping housewife who does her daily works, likewise the rays of setting sun sweeps away
beneath the horizon.

Example 4

Alliteration:

Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary ;

rare and radiant maiden;

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain…

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

(The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe)

Poe uses alliteration by repeating “w” sounds to emphasize the weariness of narrator, and then “r” and
“s” sounds in the second and third lines respectively. In the last two lines, “d” sound highlights the
narrator’s hopelessness.
Example 5

Symbolism:

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks

Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

(The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

In the following lines, albatross symbolizes a big mistake of the mariner or a burden of the sin just like
the cross on which Christ was crucified. Therefore, all people on the ship agreed to slay that bird.

Function of Figurative Language

Its primary function is to force the readers to imagine what a writer wants to express. Though, figurative
language is not meant to convey literal meanings, and often it compares one concept with another in
order to make the first concept easier to understand, it, however, links the two ideas or concepts with
the aim of influencing audience to understand the link even if it does not exist. Poets and prose writers
use this technique to bring out emotions and help their readers form images in minds. Thus, figurative
language is a useful way of conveying an idea that readers cannot understand otherwise, due to its
complex and abstract nature. In addition, it helps in analyzing a literary text.

Contrast

Definition of Contrast

Contrast is a rhetorical device through which writers identify differences between two subjects, places,
persons, things or ideas. Simply, it is a type of opposition between two objects highlighted to emphasize
their differences. It comes from a Latin word, contra stare, meaning to stand against. Usually though
not always, writers use phrases and words to indicate a contrast such as but, yet, however, instead, in
contrast, nevertheless, on the contrary and unlike, etc. for instance, E. B White in his novel, Stuart
Little, brings a contrast between Stuart and other babies as using unlike as it goes here; “Unlike most
babies, Stuart could walk as soon as he was born.”

Types of Contrast

 Point-by-point Contrast – In this type of contrast, writers deal with a series of features of two
subjects, and then present their contrast, discussing all points successively.
 Subject-by-subject Contrast – In this type of contrast, a writer first discusses one subject
thoroughly and then move on to another.

Contrast Examples from Literature

Example 1

To begin with the differences: Lenin was cruel, which Gladstone was not; Lenin had no respect for
tradition, whereas Gladstone had a great deal; Lenin considered all means legitimate for securing the
victory of his party, whereas for Gladstone politics was a game with certain rules that must be observed.
All these differences, to my mind, are to the advantage of Gladstone, and accordingly Gladstone on the
whole had beneficent effects, while Lenin’s effects were disastrous.
(From “Eminent Men I Have Known, Unpopular Essays” by Bertrand Russell)

In this example, Russell presents a point-by-point contrast between two persons, Vladimir Lenin—a
Russian communist revolutionary and William Gladstone—a British Liberal politician. By the end,
author gives his favor to Gladstone than Lenin.

Example 2

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

(Sonnet 130, William Shakespeare)

In the first five lines of this poem, Shakespeare employs a number of contrasts to lay emphasis on her
beloved’s qualities. He contrasts her to the sun, coral, snow and wire. Simply, he wants to convey the
idea that his woman is though not extraordinary yet substantial.

Example 3

Charles Dickens in the very first chapter of his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, presents a sweeping
background of events and forces that shape the characters’ lives later on. In its first paragraph, he begins
to share a dual theme, as he compares and contrasts the ideas of “best” and “worst” of times, “light” and
“darkness” and then “hope” and “despair.” These contrasting ideas reflect images of good and bad that
would recur in situations and characters in the entire novel. Dickens makes contrast between two
countries, England and France. Both countries experience very different and very similar situations
simultaneously. The differences, he compares are concepts of justice and spirituality in each country.

Example 4

William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, is about contrasts of love and hate. This tragic play
embodies contrast of love and hate in different ways, as we see love of two lovers, Romeo and Juliet,
whereas their families are at war and hate each other. However, love of these lovers forbids this war.
Characters in this play also contrast each other. Romeo and Juliet, though both are lovers, are different
too such as Romeo is impulsive and dependent, while Juliet is organized, brave and practical.
Montague’s marriage is successful, while Capulet’s is not. Along with a steady contrast in characters,
we notice contrast in mood, theme and action of the play as well.

Function of Contrast

Writers address a number of features and characteristics of two subjects, persons, places and events by
contrasting them from one point to another. While the major purpose of contrast is to elucidate ideas
and clear their meanings, the readers can easily understand through this device what is going to happen
next. Through opposite and contrasting ideas, writers make their arguments stronger which become
memorable for readers due to emphasis placed on them. In addition, contrasting ideas shock the
audience, heighten drama and produce balanced structures in literary works.
 Repetition

Repetition Definition

Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea
clearer. There are several types of repetitions commonly used in both prose and poetry. As a rhetorical
device, it could be a word, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its
significance in the entire text. Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech but more as a
rhetorical device.

Types of Repetition

The following examples of repetition are classified according to the different types of repetition used
both in literature and in daily conversations.

 Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word in a line or clause.

 Anaphora: Repetition of words at the start of clauses or verses.
 Antistasis: Repetition of word s or phrases in opposite sense.
 Diacope: Repetition of words broken by some other words.
 Epanalepsis: Repetition of same words at the end and start of a sentence.
 Epimone: Repetition of a phrase (usually a question) to stress a point.
 Epiphora: Repetition of the same word at the end of each clause.
 Gradatio: A construction in poetry where the last word of one clause becomes the first of the
next and so on.
 Negative-Positive Restatement: Repetition of an idea first in negative terms and then in positive
terms.
 Polyptoton: Repetition of words of the same root with different endings.
 Symploce: It is a combination of anaphora and epiphora in which repetition is both at the end
and at the beginning.

Repetition Examples

Example 1

I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody too?
Then there’s a pair of us-don’t tell!
They’d banish us you know.

These lines have been taken from “I’m nobody! Who are You?” by Emily Dickinson. Observe how she
has used “nobody” to emphasize her point in her poem to create an association with the person she is
talking about.

Example 2

Because I do not hope to turn again

Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn…

These three lines have been taken from “Ash-Wednesday” authored by T. S. Eliot, a famous modern
poet of the 20th century. The repetition of a full phrase shows us mastery the poet has acquired in using
words and phrases to make his point clear and emphasize that he has no hope of coming back.
Example 3

I looked upon the rotting sea,

And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.

These lines have been taken from the famous poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by S.T. Coleridge.
The poem tells a story where a seafarer tells about his adventures in the sea.

Example 4

“My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,

And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.”

These lines have been taken from “Richard III” by William Shakespeare, Richard. These lines show the
repetition of a phrase that occurs at the end of the first and then start of the second line. It is called
anadiplosis.

Example 5

“A horse is a horse, of course, of course,

And no one can talk to a horse of course
That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mister Ed.”

These lines are among the repetition examples from the theme song of Mr. Ed, a 1960s TV program.
This is an example of a diacope type of rhetorical repetition. There is repetition but it is broken up with
several other words.

Function of Repetition

The beauty of using figurative language is that the pattern it arranges the words into is nothing like our
ordinary speech. It is not only stylistically appealing but it also helps convey the message in much more
engaging and notable way. The aura that is created by the usage of repetition cannot be achieved
through any other device. It has the ability of making a simple sentence sound like a dramatic one. It
enhances the beauty of a sentence and stresses on the point of main significance. Repetition often uses
word associations to express the ideas and emotions in an indirect manner. The beauty of reading a
piece with repetition in it is the balance where we, as readers, have to decipher such associations and
understand the underlying meanings.

Repetition as a literary term can be used both constructively and destructively. The constructive usage
encompasses functions such as, putting emphasis on a point, confirming a fact or an idea, cohesion,
mimesis, transition, showing impartiality and or describing a notion. The same literary device when
used destructively can disintegrate the entire piece of writing. Erasure, redundancy, continuous present,
fragmentation, copying and habitual misuse of the literary device are among the destructive effects.
 Metaphor

Metaphor Definition

Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two
things or objects that are poles apart from each other but have some characteristics common between
them. In other words, a resemblance of two contradictory or different objects is made based on a single
or some common characteristics.

In simple English, when you portray a person, place, thing, or an action as being something else, even
though it is not actually that “something else,” you are speaking metaphorically. “He is the black sheep
of the family” is a metaphor because he is not a sheep and is not even black. However, we can use this
comparison to describe an association of a black sheep with that person. A black sheep is an unusual
animal and typically stays away from the herd, and the person you are describing shares similar
characteristics.

Furthermore, a metaphor develops a comparison which is different from a simile i.e. we do not use
“like” or “as” to develop a comparison in a metaphor. It actually makes an implicit or hidden
comparison and not an explicit one.

Common Speech Examples of Metaphors

Most of us think of a metaphor as a device used in songs or poems only, and that it has nothing to do
with our everyday life. In fact, all of us in our routine life speak, write and think in metaphors. We
cannot avoid them. Metaphors are sometimes constructed through our common language. They are
called conventional metaphors. Calling a person a “night owl” or an “early bird” or saying “life is a
journey” are common conventional metaphor examples commonly heard and understood by most of us.
Below are some more conventional metaphors we often hear in our daily life:

 My brother was boiling mad. (This implies he was too angry.)

 The assignment was a breeze. (This implies that the assignment was not difficult.)
 It is going to be clear skies from now on. (This implies that clear skies are not a threat and life
is going to be without hardships)
 The skies of his future began to darken. (Darkness is a threat; therefore, this implies that the
coming times are going to be hard for him.)
 Her voice is music to his ears. (This implies that her voice makes him feel happy)

Literary Metaphor Examples

Metaphors are used in all type of literature but not often to the degree they are used in poetry because
poems are meant to communicate complex images and feelings to the readers and metaphors often state
the comparisons most emotively. Here are some examples of metaphor from famous poems.

Example #1

“She is all states, and all princes, I.”

John Donne, a metaphysical poet, was well-known for his abundant use of metaphors throughout his
poetical works. In his well-known work “The Sun Rising,” the speaker scolds the sun for waking him
and his beloved. Among the most evocative metaphors in literature, he explains “she is all states, and all
princes, I.” This line demonstrates the speaker’s belief that he and his beloved are richer than all states,
kingdoms, and rulers in the entire world because of the love that they share.

Example #2
“Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day”,

William Shakespeare was the best exponent of the use of metaphors. His poetical works and dramas all
make wide-ranging use of metaphors.

“Sonnet 18,”also known as “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” is an extended metaphor
between the love of the speaker and the fairness of the summer season. He writes that “thy eternal
summer,” here taken to mean the love of the subject, “shall not fade.”

Example #3

“Before high-pil’d books, in charact’ry / Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain,”

The great Romantic poet John Keats suffered great losses in his life – the death of his father in an
accident, and of his mother and brother through tuberculosis.

When he began displaying signs of tuberculosis himself at the age of 22, he wrote “When I Have
Fears,” a poem rich with metaphors concerning life and death. In the line “before high-pil’d books, in
charact’ry / Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain”, he employs a double-metaphor. Writing
poetry is implicitly compared with reaping and sowing, and both these acts represent the emptiness of a
life unfulfilled creatively.

Functions

From the above arguments, explanations and examples, we can easily infer the function of metaphors;
both in our daily lives and in a piece of literature. Using appropriate metaphors appeals directly to the
senses of listeners or readers, sharpening their imaginations to comprehend what is being
communicated to them. Moreover, it gives a life-like quality to our conversations and to the characters
of the fiction or poetry. Metaphors are also ways of thinking, offering the listeners and the readers fresh
ways of examining ideas and viewing the world.

Personification

Personification Definition

Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea or an animal is given human attributes.
The non-human objects are portrayed in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like human
beings. For example, when we say, “The sky weeps” we are giving the sky the ability to cry, which is a
human quality. Thus, we can say that the sky has been personified in the given sentence.

Common Examples of Personification

 Look at my car. She is a beauty, isn’t it so?

 The wind whispered through dry grass.
 The flowers danced in the gentle breeze.
 Time and tide waits for none.
 The fire swallowed the entire forest.

We see from the above examples of personification that this literary device helps us relate actions of
inanimate objects to our own emotions.
Personification Examples in Literature

Example #1

Taken from L. M. Montgomery’s “The Green Gables Letters”,

“I hied me away to the woods—away back into the sun-washed alleys carpeted with fallen gold and
glades where the moss is green and vivid yet. The woods are getting ready to sleep—they are not yet
asleep but they are disrobing and are having all sorts of little bed-time conferences and whisperings and
good-nights.”

The lack of activity in the forest has been beautifully personified as the forest getting ready to sleep,
busy in bed-time chatting and wishing good-nights, all of which are human customs.

Example #2

Taken from Act I, Scene II of “Romeo and Juliet”,

“When well-appareled April on the heel

Of limping winter treads.”

There are two personification examples here. April cannot put on a dress, and winter does not limp and
it does not have a heel on which a month can walk. Shakespeare personifies the month of April and the
winter season by giving them two distinct human qualities.

Example #3

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson employs personification in her poem “Have You Got A Brook In Your
Little Heart”.

“Have you got a brook in your little heart,

Where bashful flowers blow,
And blushing birds go down to drink,
And shadows tremble so?”

The bashful flowers, blushing birds and trembling shadows are examples of personification.

Example #4

Katherine Mansfield wrote in her short story “How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped”,

“Pearl Button swung on the little gate in front of the House of Boxes. It was the early afternoon of a
sunshiny day with little winds playing hide-and-seek in it.”

It personifies wind by saying that it is as playful as little children playing hide-and-seek on a shiny day.

Example #5

William Blake personifies Sunflowers in his poem “Two Sunflowers Move in a Yellow Room”.

“Two Sunflowers
Move in the Yellow Room.
‘Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,
said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?”

The flowers are depicting a human characteristic of weariness caused by the weather. In a human way,
they make a request to the poet to put them in a room with a window with plenty of sunshine.

Function of Personification

Personification is not merely a decorative device but it serves the purpose of giving deeper meanings to
literary texts. It adds vividness to expressions as we always look at the world from a human perspective.
Writers and poets rely on personification to bring inanimate things to life, so that their nature and
actions are understood in a better way. Because it is easier for us to relate to something that is human or
that possesses human traits. Its use encourages us to develop a perspective that is new as well as
creative.

Alliteration

Alliteration Definition

Alliteration is derived from Latin’s “Latira”. It means “letters of alphabet”. It is a stylistic device in
which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.

Consider the following examples:

 But a better butter makes a batter better.

 A big bully beats a baby boy.

Both sentences are alliterative because the same first letter of words (B) occurs close together and
produces alliteration in the sentence. An important point to remember here is that alliteration does not
depend on letters but on sounds. So the phrase not knotty is alliterative, but cigarette chase is not.

Common Examples of Alliteration

In our daily life, we notice alliteration in the names of different companies. It makes the name of a
company catchy and easy to memorize. Here are several common alliteration examples.

 Dunkin’ Donuts
 PayPal
 Best Buy
 Coca-Cola
 Life Lock
 Park Place
 American Apparel
 American Airlines
 Chuckee Cheese’s
 Bed Bath & Beyond
 Krispy Kreme
  The Scotch and Sirloin

We also find alliterations in names of people, making such names prominent and easy to be
remembered. For instance, both fictional characters and real people may stand out prominently in your
mind due to the alliterative effects of their names. Examples are:

 Ronald Reagan
 Sammy Sosa
 Jesse Jackson
 Michael Moore
 William Wordsworth
 Mickey Mouse
 Porky Pig
 Lois Lane
 Marilyn Monroe
 Fred Flintstone
 Donald Duck
 Spongebob Squarepants
 Seattle Seahawks

Alliteration Examples in Literature

Example #1

From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”

In the above lines we see alliteration (“b”, “f” and “s”) in the phrases “breeze blew”, “foam flew”,
“furrow followed”, and “silent sea”.

Example #2

From James Joyce’s “The Dead”

“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling,
like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”

We notice several instances of alliteration in the above mentioned prose work of James Joyce.
Alliterations are with “s” and “f” in the phrases “swooned slowly” and “falling faintly”.

Example #3

From Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”

“Up the aisle, the moans and screams merged with the sickening smell of woolen black clothes worn in
summer weather and green leaves wilting over yellow flowers.”

Maya gives us a striking example of alliteration in the above extract with the letters “s” and “w”. We
notice that alliterative words are interrupted by other non-alliterative words among them but the effect
of alliteration remains the same. We immediately notice alliteration in the words “screams”, “sickening
smell”, “summer”, “weather” and “wilting”.

Example #4

From William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (prologue to Act 1)

“From forth the fatal loins of these two foes;

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.”

This is an example of alliteration with the “f” and “l.” in words “forth, fatal, foes” and “loins, lovers,
and life”.

Example #5

Percy Bysshe Shelley’s (English Romantic poet) “The Witch of Atlas” is a famous poem that is full of
examples of alliterations. Just a few of them are “wings of winds” (line 175), “sick soul to happy sleep”
(line 178), “cells of crystal silence” (line 156), “Wisdom’s wizard. . . wind. . . will” (lines 195-197),
“drained and dried” ( line 227), “lines of light” (line 245), “green and glowing” (line 356), and crudded.
. . cape of cloud” (lines 482-3).

Function of Alliteration

Alliteration has a very vital role in poetry and prose. It creates a musical effect in the text that enhances
the pleasure of reading a literary piece. It makes reading and recitation of the poems attractive and
appealing; thus, making them easier to learn by heart. Furthermore, it renders flow and beauty to a piece
of writing.

In the marketing industry, as what we have already discussed, alliteration makes the brand names
interesting and easier to remember. This literary device is helpful in attracting customers and enhancing
sales.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia Definition

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound
effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting. For
instance, saying, “The gushing stream flows in the forest” is a more meaningful description than just
saying, “The stream flows in the forest.” The reader is drawn to hear the sound of a “gushing stream”
which makes the expression more effective.

In addition to the sound they represent, many onomatopoeic words have developed meanings of their
own. For example, “whisper” not only represents the sound of people talking quietly, but also describes
the action of people talking quietly.

Common Examples of Onomatopoeia

 The buzzing bee flew away.

 The sack fell into the river with a splash.
 The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
  He looked at the roaring sky.
 The rustling leaves kept me awake.

The different sounds of animals are also considered as examples of onomatopoeia. You will recognize
the following sounds easily:

 Meow
 Moo
 Neigh
 Tweet
 Oink
 Baa

Groups of Onomatopoeic Words

Onomatopoeic words come in combinations as they reflect different sounds of a single object. For
example, a group of words reflecting different sounds of water are; plop, splash, gush, sprinkle, drizzle,
drip etc.

Similarly, words like growl, giggle, grunt, murmur, blurt, chatter etc. denote different kinds of human
voice sounds.

Moreover, we can identify a group of words related to different sounds of wind, such as; swish, swoosh,
whiff, whoosh, whizz, whisper etc.

Onomatopoeia Examples in Literature

Onomatopoeia is frequently employed in literature. Below, a few Onomatopoeia examples are

highlighted in bold letters:

Example #1

“The moan of doves in immemorial elms,

And murmuring of innumerable bees…”

(‘Come Down, O Maid’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Example #2

“Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, ‘cock-a-diddle-dow!'”

(Ariel in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act One, scene 2)

Example #3

“He saw nothing and heard nothing but he could feel his heart pounding and then he heard the clack on
stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small rock falling.”
(For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway)

Example #4

“It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,

And whirr when it stood still.
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.”

(“The Marvelous Toy” by Tom Paxton)

Example #5

“I’m getting married in the morning!

Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime.”

(“Get Me to the Church on Time,” by Lerner and Loewe)

We notice, in the above examples, the use of onomatopoeia gives rhythm to the texts. In addition, it
makes the description livelier and interesting, appealing directly to the senses of the reader.

Onomatopoeia and Phanopoeia

Onomatopoeia, in its more complicated use, takes the form of phanopoeia. Phanopoeia is a form of
onomatopoeia that describes the sense of things rather than their natural sounds. D.H Lawrence in his
poem “Snake” illustrates the use of this form:

“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,…”

The rhythm and length of the above lines, along with the use of “hissing” sounds, create a picture of a
snake in the minds of the readers.

Function of Onomatopoeia

Generally, words are used to tell what is happening. Onomatopoeia, on the other hand, helps the readers
to hear the sounds the words they reflect. Hence, the reader cannot help but enter the world created by
the poet with the aid of these words. The beauty of onomatopoeic words lies in the fact that they are
bound to have an effect on the readers’ senses whether they are understood or not. Moreover, a simple
plain expression does not have the same emphatic effect that conveys an idea powerfully to the readers.
The use of onomatopoeic words helps create emphasis.

Rhyme

Rhyme Definition

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of lines in poems or songs.
A rhyme is a tool utilizing repeating patterns that brings rhythm or musicality in poems which
differentiate them from prose which is plain. A rhyme is employed for the specific purpose of rendering
a pleasing effect to a poem which makes its recital an enjoyable experience. Moreover, it offers itself as
a mnemonic device smoothing the progress of memorization. For instance, all nursery rhymes contain
rhyming words in order to facilitate learning for children as they enjoy reading them and the presence of
repetitive patterns enables them to memorize that particular poem effortlessly. We do not seem to forget
the nursery rhymes we learnt as a kid. Below are a few nursery rhyme examples with rhyming words in
bold and italics:

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses, And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow;

And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.
It followed her to school one day, which was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play, to see a lamb at school.
And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near,
And waited patiently about till Mary did appear.

Various Types of Rhyme

Poems written in English employ the following kinds of rhyme:

Perfect Rhyme

A perfect rhyme is a case in which two words rhyme in such a way that their final stressed vowel and
all following sounds are identical e.g. sight and light, right and might, rose and dose etc.

General Rhyme

The term general rhyme refers to a variety of phonetic likeness between words.

 Bottle and fiddle, cleaver and silver, patter and pitter etc. are examples of syllabic rhyme i.e.
words having a similar sounding last syllable but without a stressed vowel
 Wing and caring, sit and perfect, reflect and subject etc, are examples of imperfect rhyme i.e. a
rhyme between a stressed and an unstressed syllable.
 Assonance or Slant Rhyme exists in words having the same vowel sound e.g. kill and bill,
wall and hall, shake and hate etc.
 Consonance exist in words having the same consonant sound e.g. rabbit and robber, ship and
sheep
 Alliteration or Head Rhyme refers to matching initial consonant sounds e.g. sea and seal, ship
and short etc.

Eye Rhymes
Eye Rhymes, also called sight or spelling rhymes, refer to words having the same spelling but different
sounds. In such case, the final syllables have the same spellings but are pronounce differently e.g.
cough and bough, love and move etc.

Types of Rhyme According to Position

Classification of rhymes may be based on their positions such as the following examples of rhyme.

Example #1

“Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are”

Classification: Tail Rhyme

This is the most common type of rhyme. It occurs in the final syllable of a verse or line.

Example #2

“Just turn me loose let me straddle my old saddle,

Underneath the western skies,
On my cayuse let me wander over yonder,
‘Til I see the mountains rise.”

Classification: Internal Rhyme

This is a type of rhyme in which a word at the end of a verse rhymes with another word in the same
line.

Example #3

“In Ayrshire hill areas, a cruise, eh, lass?”

“Inertia, hilarious, accrues, hélas!”

Classification: Holo-rhyme
This is a type of rhyme in which all the words of two entire lines rhyme.

Example #4

“Had I but lived a hundred years ago

I might have gone, as I have gone this year,
By Warmwell Cross on to a Cove I know,
And Time have placed his finger on me there”

Classification: Cross rhyme

This refers to matching sounds at the end of intervening lines.

Function of Rhyme

As discussed above, a rhyme serves two distinct functions in the art of writing poetry:

 1. It gives poetry a typical symmetry that differentiates poetry from prose.

 2. It makes recital of poetry a pleasurable experience for the readers as the repetitive patterns
renders musicality and rhythm to it
W.H Auden gives his views on the function of rhyme and other tools of prosody saying that these are
like servants that a master uses in the ways he wants.

Assonance

Assonance Definition

Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but
start with different consonant sounds.

For instance,

“Men sell the wedding bells.”

The same vowel sound of the short vowel “-e-” repeats itself in almost all the words excluding the
definite article. The words do share the same vowel sounds but start with different consonant sounds
unlike alliteration that involves repetition of the same consonant sounds. Below are a few assonance
examples that are more common:

Common Assonance Examples

 We light fire on the mountain.

 I feel depressed and restless.
 Go and mow the lawn.
 Johnny went here and there and everywhere.
 The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.

Examples of Assonance in Literature

Assonance is primarily used in poetry in order to add rhythm and music, by adding an internal rhyme to
a poem. Let us look at some examples of assonance from literature.

Example #1

Try to notice the use of assonance in Robert Frosts poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”:

“He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dar and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”

The underlined bold letters in the above extract are vowels that are repeated to create assonance.

Example #2

Assonance sets the mood of a passage in Carl Sandburg’s Early Moon:

“Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest of living things. So old it is that no man
knows how and why the first poems came.”
Notice how the long vowel “o” in the above extract helps emphasize the idea of something being old
and mysterious.

Example #3

The sound of long vowels slows down the pace of a passage and sets an atmosphere that is grave and
serious. Look at the following example taken from Cormac McCarthy’s “Outer Dark”:

“And stepping softly with her air of blooded ruin about the glade in a frail agony of grace she trailed
her rags through dust and ashes, circling the dead fire, the charred billets and chalk bones, the little
calcined ribcage.”

The repetition of the long vowel in the above passage lays emphasis on the frightening atmosphere that
the writer wants to depict.

Example #4

Similarly, we notice the use of long vowels in a passage from Dylan Thomas’ famous poem “Do Not
Go Gentle into the Good Night”:

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight,
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

The poet deliberately uses assonance in the above lines to slow down the pace of the lines and create a
somber mood, as the subject of the poem is death.

Example #5

Below are a few brief examples of assonance from different writers:

“If I bleat when I speak it’s because I just got . . . fleeced.” – Deadwood by Al Swearengen

“Those images that yet,

Fresh images beget,
That dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.” – Byzantium by W.B. Yeats

“Strips of tinfoil winking like people” – The Bee Meeting by Sylvia Plath

“I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless.” – With Love by Thin Lizzy

Function of Assonance

Similar to any other literary device, assonance also has a very important role to play in both poetry and
prose. Writers use it as a tool to enhance a musical effect in the text by using it for creating internal
rhyme, which consequently enhances the pleasure of reading a literary piece. In addition, it helps
writers to develop a particular mood in the text that corresponds with its subject matter.
 Rhythm

Definition of rhythm

The word rhythm is derived from rhythmos (Greek) which means, “measured motion”. Rhythm is a
literary device which demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables
particularly in verse form.

Types of rhythm

English poetry makes use of five important rhythms. These rhythms are of different patterns of stressed
(/) and unstressed (x) syllables. Each unit of these types is called foot. Here are the five types of rhythm:

1. Iamb (x /)

This is the most commonly used. It consists of two syllables. The first syllable is not stressed while the
second syllable is stressed. Such as “compare” in

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

2. Trochee (/ x)

A trochee is type of poetic foot which is usually used in English poetry. It has two syllables. The first
syllable is strongly stressed while the second syllable is unstressed, as given below.

“Tell me not, in mournful numbers”

(Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

3. Spondee (/ /)

Spondee is a poetic foot which has two syllables that are consecutively stressed. For example:

“White founts falling in the Courts of the sun”

(Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton)

4. Dactyl (/ x x)

Dactyl is made up of three syllables. The first syllable is stressed and the remaining two syllables are
not stressed such as the word “marvelous”. For example:

“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,”
(Evangeline by Longfellow)

The words “primeval” and “murmuring” show dactyls in this line.

5. Anapest (x x /)

Anapests are totally opposites of the dactyls. They have three syllables; where the first two syllables are
not stressed while the last syllable is stressed. For example:

“Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,”

Examples of Rhythm in Literature

English literature is full of rhythmical poems and pieces of prose. There are many poets and authors
who have used rhythm in their works. Just have a look at some examples:

Example #1

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
(Romeo Juliet by Shakespeare)

There are ten syllables in iamb pentameter, where the second syllable is accented or stressed. As in
above mentioned lines the stressed syllables are expressed in bold.

Example #2

“And Life–blood streaming fresh; wide was the wound.”

(Paradise Lost by Milton)

Milton has used spondee in his entire epic poem. The spondaic meter is explicitly visible in the words
like “wide was”. However, the remaining line is iambic pentameter.

Example #3

DOU-ble, / DOU-ble / TOIL and / TROU-ble;

FI-re / BURN, and / CAL-dron / BUB-ble.
(Macbeth by Shakespeare)

These two lines are taken from Macbeth. The chorus of the witches’ spell shows a perfect example of
trochees. Stressed pattern is shown in capitals.

Example #4

Why so pale and wan, fond Lover?

Prithee why so pale?
Will, when looking well can’t move her,
Looking ill prevail?
Prithee why so pale?
(Song by Sir John Suckling)

Sir John has written this poem in trochaic meter. Here the stressed or accented syllables of trochaic
pattern are shown in bold-face types. This poem gives strong rhythmical effect.

Example #5

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
(Tiger by William Blake)
The trochees are perfectly used in this poem by William Blake; here first syllables in the words “tyger
tyger burning, forests” are stressed; however the second syllables are unstressed.

Example #6

“Half a League, Half a League”

(The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson)

This single line is an example of dactylic pattern as one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed
syllables like “HALF a league, HALF a league”.

Function of Rhythm

Rhythm in writing acts as beat does in music. The use of rhythm in poetry arises from the need that
some words are to be produced more strongly than others. They might be stressed for longer period of
time. Hence, the repeated use of rhythmical patterns of such accent produces rhythmical effect which
sounds pleasant to the mind as well as to the soul. In speech, rhythm is used unconsciously to create
identifiable patterns. Moreover, rhythm captivates the audience and readers alike by giving musical
effect to a speech or a literary piece.

Simile

Simile Definition

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different
things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as”.
Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

We can find simile examples in our daily speech. We often hear comments like “John is as slow as a
snail.” Snails are notorious for their slow pace and here the slowness of John is compared to that of a
snail. The use of “as” in the example helps to draw the resemblance. Some more examples of common
similes are given below.

Common Examples of Simile

 Our soldiers are as brave as lions.

 Her cheeks are red like a rose.
 He is as funny as a monkey.
 The water well was as dry as a bone.
 He is as cunning as a fox.

Simile inputs vividness into what we say. Authors and poets utilize comparisons to convey their
sentiments and thoughts through vivid word pictures like a simile.

Simile Examples in Literature

Example #1

Written by Joseph Conrad,

“I would have given anything for the power to soothe her frail soul, tormenting itself in its invincible
ignorance like a small bird beating about the cruel wires of a cage.”
The lines have been taken from Lord Jim. The helplessness of the soul is being compared with a bird in
a cage beating itself against the merciless wires of the cage, to be free.

Example #2

In her novel To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf compares the velocity of her thoughts about the two
men with that of spoken words.

“. . . impressions poured in upon her of those two men, and to follow her thought was like following a
voice which speaks too quickly to be taken down by one’s pencil . . .”

She says both are difficult to follow and cannot be copied in words by a pencil.

Example #3

Taken from a short story Lolita written by Vladimir Nabokov,

“Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa.”

This simile produces a humorous effect by comparing old women leaning on walking sticks with the
ancient leaning tower of Pisa.

Example #4

Robert Burns uses a simile to describe the beauty of his beloved.

“O my Luve’s like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.”

He says that his love is a fresh red rose that blossoms in the spring.

Example #5

Taken from the poem the Daffodils.

“I wandered lonely as a cloud

that floats on high o’er vales and hills.”

The poet envisions himself as a free lone cloud that floats in a blue sky above valleys and the
mountains. By choosing this simile, Wordsworth describes his loneliness.

Function of Simile

From the above discussion, we can infer the function of similes both in our everyday life as well as in
literature. Using similes attracts the attention and appeals directly to the senses of listeners or readers
encouraging their imagination to comprehend what is being communicated. In addition, it inspires life-
like quality in our daily talks and in the characters of fiction or poetry. Simile allows readers to relate
the feelings of a writer or a poet to their personal experiences. Therefore, the use of similes makes it
easier for the readers to understand the subject matter of a literary text, which may have been otherwise
too demanding to be comprehended. Like metaphors, similes also offer variety in our ways of thinking
and offers new perspectives of viewing the world.
 Figurative language

The definition of figurative language is when you describe something by comparing it with something
else. There are few different ways to use figurative language. See below for more information and
examples of figurative language and how to use it.

Term Definition Example

The repetition of usually initial consonant
The wild and woolly walrus waits and
Alliteration sounds in two or more neighboring words
wonders when we’ll walk by
or syllables

holy & stony

A resemblance of sound in words or
Assonance and
syllables
Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese

A word or phrase that has become overly

Cliche No pain, no gain
familiar or commonplace

Hyperbole Big exaggeration, usually with humor mile-high ice-cream cones

The language peculiar to a group of

Idiom She sings at the top of her lungs
people

Comparing two things by using one kind of

Metaphor object or using in place of another to Her hair was silk
suggest the likeness between them

Naming a thing or an action by imitating

Onomatopoeia buzz, hiss, roar, woof
the sound associated with it

The stuffed bear smiled as the little boy

Personification Giving something human qualities
hugged him close

A figure of speech comparing two unlike

The sun is like a yellow ball of fire in the
Simile things that is often introduced by like or
sky
as
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figurative language device that represents one thing as if it were another, or
compares two things not normally viewed as similar, such as "time is a thief." This comparison
draws attention to the way time is quick and stealthy.

Simile
A simile is similar to a metaphor in that it compares two unlike things; however, a simile
compares using "like" or "as." For example, "she ran like the wind."

Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an overstatement or exaggeration of speech for an effect. In the example "the ball
bounced to the sky," the ball did not literally reach the sky, but the hyperbolic expression
suggests the ball bounced extremely high, so it seemed as though it touched the sky.

Personification
Describing an inanimate object with human or lifelike qualities is called personification. The
sentence "The sun smiled down on me" depicts the sun as "smiling" to express the idea that sun
rays feel friendly and warm, although a sun is incapable of literally smiling.

Oxymoron
An oxymoron is an example of figurative language that contains two seemingly contradictory
elements, such as "wise fool," "jumbo shrimp" or "icy hot."

Metonymy
Using a physical object to indicate a larger idea is named metonymy. For instance, the word
"crown" can refer to a king or a monarchical system, or even an entire royal family. Journalists
often refer to the United States government as "Washington," as in "We'll wait to see how
Washington responds to this recent change in developments."

Imagery
Detailed description which incorporates many of the five senses -- sight, sound, smell, taste
and touch -- is called imagery. When a writer uses imagery, he or she creates a "mental
picture" for the reader. That means the descriptions are so vivid the reader can almost imagine
he or she is there. Many of the other figurative language devices can be examples of imagery.