What are the poetic devices used in the poem I Understand the Large Hearts of Heroes?
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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.
“hearts of heroes”
“skipper saw”
“head with whip-stocks”
“breast-bone broken”
“Distant and dead”
“cries, curses”
“rent roof”
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.
How the skipper saw the…..
How he knuckled tight and…
How he follow’d with them…
How he saved the drifting…
How the lank loose-gown’d women….
How the silent old-faced infants….
The disdain and calmness of martyrs….
The mother of old, condemn’d for a witch…
The hounded slave that flags in the race….
The twinges that sting like needles….
Similarly
Lines 19-20 (begins with “I”)
Lines 37-38 beginns with “I”)
Lines 39-41 (begins with “Again”)
Lines 43-44 (begins with “The”)
Lines 46-47 begins with “The”)
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.
“All this I swallow, it tastes good, I like it well”.
Here the poet compares the human experiences to something that is edible.
“Agonies are one of my changes of garments,”
Here, the poet compares agony, (a human emotion) to a garment that he wears and puts on another often.
“I am the clock myself.”
Here, the speaker is comparing himself to a clock.
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.
Death chasing it up and down the storm.
Here, “Death” is personified. So, the poet has capitalised the letter “D” to show this to the readers. Death is personified by saying that it is chasing the ship like a wild creature.
Onomatopoeia:
Onomatopoeia is a literary device that uses the letter sounds of a word to imitate the natural sound emitted from an object or action.
The poet has used this poetic device in the following lines.
“The whizz of limbs, heads, stone, wood, iron, high in the air”
I Understand the Large Hearts of Herors Summary