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What are the poetic devices used in the poem Michael?

What are the poetic devices used in the poem Michael?

1 Answer

    1. Imagery: The use of vivid and descriptive language to create sensory experiences. Example: “The sheep-boy whistling on the lonely moor” – This line evokes an auditory image of the shepherd boy’s whistle echoing across the vast moorland.
    2. Personification: Assigning human qualities or actions to non-human entities. Example: “The fleece, which the keen air had made / Into a crystal, crackling round the hook” – The air is personified as capable of turning the sheep’s fleece into crystal-like material.
    3. Metaphor: A figure of speech that compares two unrelated things, suggesting that one thing is another. Example: “His sheep / … were cradled all on one green hill” – The sheep are metaphorically described as being cradled, emphasizing their safe and serene existence on the hill.
    4. Simile: A figure of speech that compares two things using “like” or “as.” Example: “Like a sad exile is the other boy” – The comparison highlights the sense of isolation and sadness experienced by the other boy.
    5. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds, particularly at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. Example: “Half hidden by the mists, the shepherds’ homes” – The repetition of the “h” sound in “hidden,” “half,” and “homes” creates an alliterative effect.
    6. Repetition: The deliberate repetition of words or phrases for emphasis or effect. Example: “And, in the frosty season of the year, / When the sun shines upon the fields, / I see thy tracks, the next time that I go” – The repetition of “the next time that I go” emphasizes the regularity of seeing the tracks.
    7. Enjambment: The continuation of a sentence or thought without a pause beyond the end of a line or stanza. Example: “Yet some there are who with due steps would rather / Approach these silent glories” – The sentence continues seamlessly from one line to the next, carrying the reader’s attention forward.

    Michael Summary

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