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  1. 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. “find in freedom” “Winging wildly” “setting sun” “was wordless”. Metaphor: Metaphor is a literary devicRead more

    • 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.

    find in freedom”

    Winging wildly”

    setting sun”

    was wordless”.

    • Metaphor:

    Metaphor is a literary device where two unrelated objects are compared to each other.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Everyone suddenly burst out singing;

    The speaker compares people to birds who are singing loudly to express their joy after the end of World War I.

    • Simile:

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    And I was filled with such delight

    As prisoned birds must find in freedom,

    Here, the speaker is comparing the relief of everyone to a caged bird which attained freedom.

    Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted;

    And beauty came like the setting sun:

    The speaker in these lines says that the people’s voice started rising. The overall beauty of the song is compared to the setting sun. When the sun starts to set it creates a beautiful view in the sky. In the same way their voices created a unique beauty in the atmosphere.

    • Symbolism:

    Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

    And beauty came like the setting sun:

    The speaker used the symbol of “the setting sun” to the end of World War I

    • Enjambment:

    Enjambment is a poetic device for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next. An enjambed line lacks punctuation at its line break, so the reader is carried smoothly without interruption to the next line of the poem.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    And I was filled with such delight

    As prisoned birds must find in freedom,

    • Caesura:

    A caesura is a pause in a line of poetry that is formed by the rhythms of natural speech. It will usually occur near the middle of a poetic line but can also occur at the beginning or the end of a line.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Orchards and dark-green fields; on – on – and out of sight.

    Everyone Sang Summary

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  1. 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 device in the following lines. Drawing no dividend” “Soldiers are sworn” “flaming, fatal” “Soldiers are dreamers” “balls and bats”, Metaphor:Read more

    • 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 device in the following lines.

    Drawing no dividend”

    Soldiers are sworn”

    flaming, fatal”

    “Soldiers are dreamers”

    balls and bats”,

    • Metaphor:

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

    “Soldiers are citizens of death’s grey land,

    Drawing no dividend from time’s to-morrows.”

    “In the great hour of destiny they stand,”

    The first line is metaphorically referring to the battlefield. While the second line is referring to hope in the future.

    • Polysyndeton:

    Polysyndeton is a literary technique in which a conjunction appears over and over again to join different thoughts in one sentenceThe poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows.

    And mocked by hopeless longing to regain  

    Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats,

    And going to the office in the train.

    In these lines the conjunction “and” is repeated often to emphasise the word that is placed after that.

    • Repetition:

    Repetition is a literary device where a certain word or phrase is repeated multiple times to emphasise the word or to create a rhythm.The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Soldiers are citizens of death’s grey land,

    Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win  

    Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin

    In the first stanza, the poet repeated the phrase “soldiers are”.

    And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain,  

    And mocked by hopeless longing to regain  

    And going to the office in the train.

    Similarly in the second stanza the word “and” is repeated.

    • Irony:

    Irony is a literary device in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality. The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin

    Dreamers Summary

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  1. “The Powwow at the End of the World'' is a free verse poem. So, it does not follow a strict rhyme scheme or metrical form. The Powwow at the End of the World Summary

    “The Powwow at the End of the World” is a free verse poem. So, it does not follow a strict rhyme scheme or metrical form.

    The Powwow at the End of the World Summary

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  1. Repetition: Repetition is a literary device where a certain word or phrase is repeated multiple times to emphasise the word or to create a rhythm.The poet has used this device in the following throughout the poem. I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall This line is repeated throRead more

    • Repetition:

    Repetition is a literary device where a certain word or phrase is repeated multiple times to emphasise the word or to create a rhythm.The poet has used this device in the following throughout the poem.

    I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall

    This line is repeated throughout the poem.

    • 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.

    dam / downriver”

    floodwaters find”

    swallowed by that salmon”

    salmon swims”

    upstream, until”

    shallows of a secret bay” etc.

    • Personification:

    Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants or even inanimate objects are given human qualities. The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    the fire with that salmon   

    who has three stories it must tell before sunrise:……

    Here, the salmon is personified,as the speaker has included the skill of speaking.

    The Powwow at the End of the World Summary

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  1. This answer was edited.

    The poem “Grief Call Us to the Things of This World '' is a free verse poem. So, it does not follow a strict rhyme scheme. Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World Summary

    The poem “Grief Call Us to the Things of This World ” is a free verse poem. So, it does not follow a strict rhyme scheme.

    Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World Summary

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  1. This answer was edited.

    Allusion: The title of the poem and the epigraph is an allusion to American poet Richard Wilbur's poem named “Love calls us to the things of the world”. The epigraph is taken from the sixth line of Wilbur's poem. The morning air is all awash with angels . . .                                         Read more

    • Allusion:

    The title of the poem and the epigraph is an allusion to American poet Richard Wilbur’s poem named “Love calls us to the things of the world”. The epigraph is taken from the sixth line of Wilbur’s poem. The morning air is all awash with angels . . .                                             – Richard Wilbur There is even a reference to angels which indicates the Biblical allusions. Those angels burden and unbalance us. Those fuc-king angels ride us piggyback.

    • 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 device in the following lines. I wonder whom I should call? A plumber,  Proctologist, urologist, or priest? He’s astounded by bathroom telephones. And sing our praise to forgetfulness Before they slap our souls with their cold wings. Those angels, forever falling, snare us And haul us, prey and praying, into dust.

    • Anaphora:

    Anaphora is a literary device that uses the repetition of short phrases or single words at the beginning of clauses or sentences to enhance rhythm. The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines. Those angels burden and unbalance us. Those fu-cking angels ride us piggyback. Those angels, forever falling, snare us All the three pines begin with the word “Those”. It is used to enhance the rhythm of the poem. Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World Summary

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  1. 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 device in the following lines. Buffalo Bill opens a pawn shop on the reservation right across the border from television sets, a VCR, a full-Read more

    • 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 device in the following lines.

    Buffalo Bill opens a pawn shop on the reservation

    right across the border from

    television sets, a VCR, a full-length beaded buckskin outfit 

    it took Inez Muse 12 years to finish. Buffalo Bill

    closes up the pawn shop, paints a new sign over the old 

    • Repetition:

    Repetition is a literary device where a certain word or phrase is repeated multiple times to emphasise the word or to create a rhythm.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    thumbs for last, they pawn

    their skeletons, falling endlessly from the skin 

    and when the last Indian has pawned everything

    but his heart, Buffalo Bill takes that for twenty bucks

    Here, the term “pawn” is repeated throughout the poem. It is used to emphasise the idea of pawning their identities.

    • Irony:

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    closes up the pawn shop, paints a new sign over the old 

    calls his venture THE MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES 

    charges the Indians five bucks a head to enter.

    Here, the person Buffalo Bill who exploited the culture and possession of Native people of America through his pawn shop,closed his shop. Later, he opened a museum to display the possessions of Native people of America. Yet, he charges five bucks from the native people to enter into the museum.

    Evolution Summary

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  1. The poem “Evolution” is a free verse poem. It does not follow a certain rhyming scheme.So, it is a free flowing poetry. Evolution Summary

    The poem “Evolution” is a free verse poem. It does not follow a certain rhyming scheme.So, it is a free flowing poetry.

    Evolution Summary

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  1. The main theme behind the poem “Evolution” is the exploitation of the culture of native Americans by white people. So, the poet uses the character named “Buffalo Bill” to depict the domination of white people. Buffalo Bill, who runs the pawn shop, directly exploits their culture by getting the preciRead more

    The main theme behind the poem “Evolution” is the exploitation of the culture of native Americans by white people. So, the poet uses the character named “Buffalo Bill” to depict the domination of white people. Buffalo Bill, who runs the pawn shop, directly exploits their culture by getting the precious objects from the people. He is so cruel, that he can even pawn the heart of the people. Here, the term “heart” indicates the “culture of native American”. At the end of the poem, Bill opens a museum and makes the native people visit the product that they gave him.

    So, the poet indirectly describes how white people exploited the culture and portrayed them as the saviours of native culture.

    Evolution Summary

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