1. Allusion: It means to use references from society, history, or culture to stress the main idea. The poet has alluded to the Grecian mythical characters of Icarus and Daedalus.

2. Alliteration: It means to use initial consonants in successive words. The poem shows the use of consonant sounds, such as /f/ in “feathers floating.”

3. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “The confusing aspects of the case” and the sound of /a/ and /o/ in “No, he could not disturb their neat front yards.”

4. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ and /b/ in “What was he doing aging in a suburb?” and the sound of /f/ and /s/ in “Fails every time and hates himself for trying.”

5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Edward Field has used imagery in this poem, such as “He had thought himself a hero, had acted heroically”, “And dreamt of his fall, the tragic fall of the hero” and “But now rides commuter trains.”

6. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the extended metaphor of Icarus and Daedalus.

7. Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet personified eyes as “defeated eyes” as if they have emotions and life of their own.

8. Rhetorical Question: It means to show or use a question not to elicit an answer but to stress upon the main theme. The poem shows the use of rhetorical questions, such as “To the middling stature of the merely talented?” or “What was he doing aging in a suburb?”

9. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as feathers, police, war, report, and city to show the impacts of the modern world.

Icarus Summary