English Notes Latest Questions

  1. 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 bones and the darkness within  Surround them all  Inside a tune plays on  The Howrah Bridge is holding up high  TheRead more

    • 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 bones and the darkness within 

    Surround them all 

    Inside a tune plays on 

    The Howrah Bridge is holding up high 

    The void 

    Under my feet drifts Time.

    In these lines, the words “inner darkness”, “bones”, “the Howrah bridge” and “time” are personified.

    • 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.

    Whatever was around me

    Exile

    Folklores 

    Solitary sunset 

    Whatever was around me

    Landslides 

    Arrows and spears 

    A homestead 

    All shiver with their faces turned west. 

    Here, the line, “Whatever was around me” is repeated for the sake of emphasis.

    • Allusion:

    Through this poem, the poet has alluded to the Partition of India. Even in the seventh line of the original poem, the word “Kothamala” refers to Bengali folklore.

    Exile

    Folklores 

    Solitary sunset 

    Rehabilitation Summary

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  1. The translated version of the poem “Twenty-sixth January” doesn't follow any rhyme scheme. But the original version followed a rhyme scheme. The alternate lines ended with the word “hue” creating the rhythm in the poem. The last two lines of the original version of the poem formed a couplet. Twenty-Read more

    The translated version of the poem “Twenty-sixth January” doesn’t follow any rhyme scheme. But the original version followed a rhyme scheme. The alternate lines ended with the word “hue” creating the rhythm in the poem. The last two lines of the original version of the poem formed a couplet.

    Twenty-sixth January Summary

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  1. Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a literary device in which the author asks questions to the readers. These questions need not be answered but it is aimed to create the idea or concept behind the poem. The poet has used this device in the following lines. What happened to all those beautiRead more

    • Rhetorical Question:

    Rhetorical question is a literary device in which the author asks questions to the readers. These questions need not be answered but it is aimed to create the idea or concept behind the poem.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    What happened to all those beautiful dreams we had dreamt?

    When wealth increased why did poverty also increase in the country?

    What happened to the means of increasing the prosperity of the people?

    Through these lines, the poet is questioning the governing people and the public.

    • Metaphor:

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

    The poet has used this device in the following line.

    Those who walked beside us on the street of the gallows

    What happened to those friends and comrades and fellow travellers?

    Here “streets of the gallows” refers to people who protested for freedom at the street, thus it led to gallows.

    • 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.

    What happened to those rare and precious prescriptions?

    Every street is a field of flames, every city a slaughterhouse

    Twenty-sixth January Summary

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  1. The poem “Winter Time '' by Robert Louis Stevenson follows a rhyme scheme of AABB in each stanza. In every stanza the first two lines rhyme with each other. In the same way the next two lines of the stanza rhyme with each other. Late lies the wintry sun a-bed, A frosty, fiery sleepy-head; Blinks butRead more

    The poem “Winter Time ” by Robert Louis Stevenson follows a rhyme scheme of AABB in each stanza. In every stanza the first two lines rhyme with each other. In the same way the next two lines of the stanza rhyme with each other.

    Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

    A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

    Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

    A blood-red orange, sets again.

    Winter-Time 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. A frosty, fiery sleepy-head; Personification: Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants or evenRead 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.

    A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

    • Personification:

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

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

    Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

    A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

    Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

    In these lines the Sun is personified.

    • Oxymoron:

    An oxymoron is a literary device combining oppositional words to create a unique word or phrase.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

    The cold wind burns my face, and blows

    In these lines has used two opposites words that looks contradictory to convey a very specific idea

    In the term “Cold candle” to convey the coldness. In the same way the phrase “cold wind burn” describes the domination of cold in the atmosphere.

    • Juxtaposition:

    Juxtaposition is a literary device where two things are placed side by side so as to highlight their differences.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

    A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

    In these lines, the poet has kept two contrasting words next to one another. For example, “wintery sun” and “frost, fiery sleep-head.”

    • Simile:

    A simile is a literary device that directly compares two things. While comparing two things the following words are used such as “like”, “as”, “so”, or “than”.

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

    Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

    And tree and house, and hill and lake,

    Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

    Here, the snow covered trees, hills, houses and lakes are compared to a frosted wedding cake.

    Winter-Time Summary

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  1. The poet Robert Louis Stevenson has used the rhyming pattern of ABABCC in the poem. Whenever the moon and stars are set, - A     Whenever the wind is high,- B All night long in the dark and wet, - A     A man goes riding by.- B Late in the night when the fires are out, - C Why does he gallop and galRead more

    The poet Robert Louis Stevenson has used the rhyming pattern of ABABCC in the poem.

    Whenever the moon and stars are set, – A

        Whenever the wind is high,- B

    All night long in the dark and wet, – A

        A man goes riding by.- B

    Late in the night when the fires are out, – C

    Why does he gallop and gallop about? – C

    Windy Nights 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. Whenever the moon and stars are set,     Whenever the wind is high, Personification: Personification is a poetRead 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.

    Whenever the moon and stars are set,

        Whenever the wind is high,

    • 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.

    Whenever the trees are crying aloud,

    The poet has personified a tree with the phrase “crying aloud”.

    • Rhetorical Question:

    Rhetorical question is a literary device where the writer asks questions to the readers. These questions need not be answered. But, this literary device enhances the idea or concept behind the question.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    Why does he gallop and gallop about?

    • 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.

    By, on the highway, low and loud,

        By at the gallop goes he.

    By at the gallop he goes, and then

    By he comes back at the gallop again.

    Here, the words “by” and “gallop” are used repeatedly to enhance the rhythm.

    • 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 device in the following lines.

    By, on the highway, low and loud,

        By at the gallop goes he.

    By at the gallop he goes, and then

    By he comes back at the gallop again.

    Here the word “By” is used repeatedly to enhance the idea of riding.

    Windy Nights Summary

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  1. The poem “The Wind” follows the rhyme scheme of AABBCC throughout the poem.  I saw you toss the kites on high And blow the birds about the sky; And all around I heard you pass, Like ladies' skirts across the grass—       O wind, a-blowing all day long,       O wind, that sings so loud a song! The laRead more

    The poem “The Wind” follows the rhyme scheme of AABBCC throughout the poem. 

    I saw you toss the kites on high

    And blow the birds about the sky;

    And all around I heard you pass,

    Like ladies’ skirts across the grass

          O wind, a-blowing all day long,

          O wind, that sings so loud a song!

    The last two lines of each stanza are repeated throughout the poem. This literary device is known as refrain.

    O wind, a-blowing all day long,

          O wind, that sings so loud a song!

    The Wind Summary

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  1. 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. O wind, that sings so loud a song! Here, the “wind” is personified. Alliteration: Alliteration is a literary device inRead more

    • 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.

    O wind, that sings so loud a song!

    Here, the “wind” is personified.

    • 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.

    O wind, that sings so loud a s

    song!

    I saw the different things you did,

    • Apostrophe:

    Apostrophe is a literary device where a person addresses someone who cannot respond.

    The poet has used this device in the following lines.

    O wind, a-blowing all day long,

          O wind, that sings so loud a song!

    Here, the speaker is addressing the wind, which cannot respond back or hear the words of the speaker.

    • 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.

    O wind, a-blowing all day long,

          O wind, that sings so loud a song!

    These two lines are repeated at regular intervals of time in the poem.

    The Wind Summary

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  1. The poem “Requiem” follows a steady rhyme scheme of AAAB AAAB. Under the wide and starry sky,     Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die,     And I laid me down with a will. Requiem Summary

    The poem “Requiem” follows a steady rhyme scheme of AAAB AAAB.

    Under the wide and starry sky,

        Dig the grave and let me lie.

    Glad did I live and gladly die,

        And I laid me down with a will.

    Requiem Summary

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