The main theme behind the poem “Root Cellar” is hope. The poet advises the readers to live their life with hope and determination.By describing the plants hope in the cellar, he is motivating the readers to pass their days with such determination.

Nothing would give up life:

Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.

He says, that even the dirt is breathing with a determination. He says, even the plants inside the cellar are living their life without giving up. The speaker says there may be dark phases in one’s life, but one should not give up instead they should try to get light from all the ways possibile.

Root Cellar Summary

Alliteration:

Alliteration is a literary device in which certain sounds are repeated at the beginning of words in a sentence or phrase.

The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

sleep in that cellar,

dank as a ditch,

Bulbs broke,

dangled and drooped,

 Roots ripe, etc.

Assonance:

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse. The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

sleep in,

lime, piled

Consonance:

Consonance is the repetition of identical or similar consonants in neighbouring words whose vowel sounds are different.

The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

evil necks, like tropical snakes, Hung down long yellow,

Metaphor:

Metaphor is a literary device where two unrelated objects are compared to each other. The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,

Here, the poet compares “bulb” to a creature that hunts.

Personification:

Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants or even inanimate objects are given human qualities.

The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

“Nothing would give up life:

Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.”

Here, the dirt is personified.

Simile:

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.”

The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.

“Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes.”

Here, the green stems of the plant are compared to tropical snakes.

“Roots ripe as old bait,”

Here, the roots are compared to old bait.

Hyperbole:

Hyperbole is a literary device used to draw emphasis through extreme exaggeration. The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines

Nothing would give up life:

Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.

Root Cellar Summary