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What are the poetic devices used in the poem To a Stranger?

What are the poetic devices used in the poem To a Stranger?
American PoetryTo a StrangerWalt Whitman

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    2. Radhika
      Best Answer

      • Apostrophe- Apostrophe involves addressing an absent or imaginary person or entity. In this case, the speaker directly addresses the passing stranger. It can be seen in the first line where the speaker says, “Passing stranger!”.

      • Anaphora- Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. There is a repetition of the phrase “I am” from the tenth to the thirteenth lines.

      • Simile- Simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.” in the line, “it comes to me, as of a dream”, the speaker compares the realization to the coming of a dream.

      • Enjambment- Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, stanza, or verse. It creates a flowing and uninterrupted rhythm in the poem. This has been used in the poem.

      • Metaphor- A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not applicable. It can be seen in the line, “your body has become not yours only, nor left my body mine only,” where the poet metaphorically shows how the speaker and the stranger share a small part of their life with their other.

      • Alliteration- is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. An example of alliteration in the poem is “You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream” where the “e” sound is repeated.

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