Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Alliteration is the repetition of sounds in words, usually the first sound. Sibilance is a special form of alliteration using the softer consonants that create hissing sounds, or sibilant sounds. These consonants and digraphs include s, sh, th, ch, z, f, x, and soft c.
Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it represents for a rhetorical or artistic effect of bringing out the full flavor of words. The sounds literally make the meaning in such words as “buzz,” “crash,” “whirr,” “clang” “hiss,” “purr,” “squeak,” etc.lt Is also used by poets to convey their subject to the reader. For example, In the last lines of Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem ‘Come Down, O Maid’, m and n sounds produce an atmosphere of murmuring Insects:
… the moan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
Notice how D H Lawrence uses both these devices effectively in the following stanza.
He reached down from a fissure in the earth-wall in the gloom
And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down, over the edge of the stone trough
And rested his throat upon the stone bottom,
And where the water had dripped from the tap, in a small clearness,
He sipped with his straight mouth,
Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body,
Silently.
To what effect has the poet used these devices? How has it added to your understanding of the subject of the poem? You may record your understanding of snake characteristics under the following headings:
(a) Sound
(b) Movement
(c) Shape
Advertisements
Solution
(a) Sound:
- He sipped with his straight mouth, Softly drank through his straight gums, into his slack long body, silently-Alliteration (sibilance)
(b) Movement:
- And flickered his two forked tongue from his tips and mused a moment – Alliteration.
- And depart peaceful, pacified and thankless into the burning bowels of the earth. – Alliteration.
(c) Shape:
- And trailed his yellow-brown slackness soft-bellied down over the edge of the stone trough. – Alliteration (sibilance)
- Being garth-brown earth-golden, from the burning bowels of the earth.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
The poet uses alliteration to heighten the musical quality of the sonnet. Working in pairs, underline the examples of alliteration in the poem.
There are a number of literary devices used in the poem. Some of them have been listed below. Choose the right ones and write them down in the table as shown in the example. In each of the cases, explain what they mean.
| simile, metaphor, alliteration, personification. hyperbole, repetition, |
| 1. The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: | Simile; the wedding guest was completely under the control of the mariner |
| 2. Below the kirk, below the hill, Below the lighthouse top | |
| 3. The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he | |
| 4. The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she | |
| 5. And now the storm-blast came, and he was tyrannous and strong: | |
| 6. With sloping masts and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow Still treads the shadow of his foe | |
| 7. The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around |
Find an example from the poem that contain:
Similie
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Antithesis
Pick out one example of the following Figure of Speech.
Alliteration
Pick out from the poem two examples of each.
Alliteration
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever____________
Choose the correct Figure of speech that occurs in the following line. Justify your choice.
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon.
Match the lines with the Figures of Speech.
| Lines | Figures of Speech |
| 1. In wondrous merry mood | Tautology |
| 2. They were so queer, so very queer. | Alliteration |
| 3. And saw him peep within | Onomatopoeia |
| 4. The grin grew broad. | Repetition |
| 5. And shot from ear to ear. | Hyperbole |
| 6. He broke into a roar. | Repetition |
| 7. Ten days and nights with sleepless eye | Transferred Epithet |
Explain the Figure of Speech in the following line.
And rest in nature, not the God of Nature-REPETITION because.....
Find out lines from the poem that are examples of following Figures of Speech.
| Figures of Speech | Lines |
| Repetition | ......................... |
| Alliteration | ......................... |
| Hyperbole | ......................... |
Find out examples from the poem.
Alliteration
In poetry, very often, there are lines in which the poet seems to talk directly to an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing/object. Such a tactic/device used by the poet is the Figure of Speech ‘Apostrophe’.
For example,
Twinkle, twinkle little star ...
Death! Where is thy sting?
O, Caveman! I wish I could live with you.
Now, complete the following, creating an example of an Apostrophe of your own.
- O, Life! How ______
- Dear God, Please ______
- Books! You are ______
- Exams! I wish ______
- O, You beautiful sky ______
Pick out the examples of Alliteration and Repetition from the (Basketful of Moonlight) poem.
Pick out lines that contain:
Alliteration
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
“And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise”
Identify the Figures of speech used from those given in the bracket.
(Simile/ Repetition/ Antithesis/ Personification/ Metaphor/ Alliteration/ Apostrophe)
With worn-out tools ____________.
Complete the following example of Hyperbole using words from the bracket below.
She wept____________of tears.
The Figure of Speech ‘ Apostrophe’ exists throughout the poem. Pick out the line where the poet directly addresses.
the sea-shore
- ____________
- ____________
Find from the poem, one example of the following.
Alliteration
