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POETI
C
DEVICES
POETIC DEVICES
Poems appeal to our emotions and imagination, as well as to our sense of reason.
To help us feel and imagine, poets use poetic devices.
Wow, that’s really sad.
POETIC DEVICES
To help us feel and imagine as we read a poem, poets use poetic devices, such as these:
figures of speechsymbolsimagery
POETIC DEVICES
We are drawn into the experience of a poem through the poet’s use of imagery, or language that appeals to our senses:
smelltaste
Imagery
touch
sight
hearing
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Read these lines from “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. To what senses do these images appeal?
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
This image appeals to our sense of sight.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
These images appeal to our senses of sight and touch.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
This image appeals to our senses of sight and hearing.
POETIC DEVICES
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Imagery
A symbol is something that has meaning in itself and also stands for something else.
POETIC DEVICES
Here are some common symbols you will probably recognize:
flag/country
dove/peace 4-leaf clover/ good luck
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Symbols
Figures of speech are words or phrases that describe one thing in terms of another and are not meant literally.
POETIC DEVICES
The guard stood like a flagpole.
This figure of speech compares the guard’s stance to a flagpole, suggesting that he stood unmoving, tall, and straight.
Figures of Speech
Similes are figures of speech that compare two unlike things using words such as like, as, than, and resembles.
He is as stubborn as a mule.
This simile compares the man with a mule, which is often said to be a stubborn animal.
POETIC DEVICES
Figures of Speech
When poets carry a metaphor over several lines, it is called an extended metaphor.
A metaphor is a figure of speech that makes a comparison without using a connecting word.
The win was the fuel the team needed.
This metaphor compares the win with fuel. Like fuel, the win gives the team energy.
POETIC DEVICES
Figures of Speech
Personification is a special kind of metaphor in which something that is not human or not alive is described as if it had human or lifelike qualities.
The flower stretched its neck toward the sun.
The flower is described with a human quality: a neck that can stretch.
POETIC DEVICES
Figures of Speech
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