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What are the poetic devices used in the poem Sweeney among the nightingales?

What are the poetic devices used in the poem Sweeney among the nightingales?

1 Answer

    1. Imagery: Imagery is the use of vivid and descriptive language to create sensory experiences and mental pictures for the reader. Example: “Branches of wistaria / Circumscribe a golden grin.” 
    2. Allusion: Allusion is a reference to a well-known person, place, event, or work of literature, often with the expectation that the reader will recognize and understand the reference. Example: “And sang within the bloody wood / When Agamemnon cried aloud.” 
    3. Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of objects, actions, or elements in a literary work to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Example: “Tears at the grapes with murderous paws.” 
    4. Irony: Irony is a literary device that involves a discrepancy between expectation and reality, often creating humor or depth of meaning. Example: The contrast between the passive, introverted characters and the vibrant fruits, or between the violent tearing of grapes and the otherwise mundane scene, adds layers of irony and ambiguity.
    5. Enjambment: Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next without a pause or a natural stopping point. For example, “The silent vertebrate in brown / Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;” 
    6. Metaphor: A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things by stating that one is the other. Example: “Branches of wistaria / Circumscribe a golden grin.”
    7. Personification: Personification is a literary device that attributes human qualities or characteristics to non-human entities or objects. Example: “The nightingales are singing near / The Convent of the Sacred Heart.” 

    Sweeney among the nightingales Summary

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