Poetic and Literary Devices - With Definitions and Examples

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Personification

Attributing human qualities to non-human objects is known as Personification. For example in Shakespeare's Sonnet number 18 line 11:

Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade

In the above line, death has been personified as giving the human quality of bragging.

Zoomorphism

Attributing animal qualities to non-human objects, including human-beings is called Zoomorphism.

For example: The speaker roared in the microphone. The roaring sound of lion resembles loudness in the tone of a speaker.

Cremamorphism

An opposite of Personification: assigning the qualities of non-living objects into the living creatures like humans is termed as Cremamorphism or Objectifying.

Example: He exploded like a volcano over my slight mischief. Here explosion of a volcano is used to describe a person's anger.

 

Literary Devices Based on Comparisons

Simile

A comparison of two objects by using words like or as. But these two words have different use cases:

Like: This simile is used when a person or a thing is, as a whole, compared with other person or thing as a whole. For example: Ali is like his brother.

As: This simile is used when a specific quality of a person or a thing is compared with another person or a thing. For example: Ali is as honest as his brother.

Example:

I wandered lonely as a cloud (Daffodils – William Wordsworth)

Metaphor

A comparison of two objects or actions without using like or as. For example: You are a sheep. This sentence resembles the cowardness of a person as a sheep.

Example:

Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines (Sonnet No. 18 – William Shakespeare)

Implied Metaphor

Implied metaphor is a literary device in which a writer or poet describes the characteristics of an object without mentioning the other object and leaves on us to discover the other object. This figure of speech is quite hard to guess. For example, the waiter buzzed between the table. In this example, the quality of buzzing of the bees has been associated with the waiter. Just like the working pattern of bees, the waiter moves between the tables so fast that he may complete his customers' orders in time.

Literary Example:

But a bird that stalks
Down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through
His bars of rage
His wings are clipped and
His feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
With a fearful trill
Of things unknown
But longed for still
And his tune is heard
On the distant hill
For the caged bird
Sings of freedom. 

(I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou)

Apparently, this poem refers to a caged bird who wants the freedom to fly. But the caged bird is an example of implied metaphor, it has been implied as black coloured people, living in America (The poetess herself belonged to the black community). The free bird resembles white community. Like the caged birds, the black people want to be independent in their desires to have an equal status of liberty as the white community.

Conceit

Conceit can be a simile or metaphoric comparison between two or more objects. But it does not follow a specific syntax of comparison. We can compare a person or a thing with almost every other thing but the comparison must be logical and surprising.

 

Literary Example:

 

If they be two, they are two so As stiff
Twin compasses are two; (John Donne)

In above example, the poet has compared him and his beloved to the two legs of a compass. Just like these two legs of a compass are separated from each other: the poet and his beloved are also separated and the two legs are joined at the top, resembling the uniformity of their souls.

 

Imagery

Imagery is creation of sense impressions with the help of words or using figurative speech to create imaginative spectacles in the mind of a reader is known as Imagery.

The types of imagery has been classified on the bases of five senses:

1. Visual: This imagery is widely used in poetry and all other genres of literature. The poet uses our imaginative sense of sight to create visual images. Example: A tall tree, a blind alley
2. Auditory: A writer implies the readers' imaginative sense of hearing to create imaginative sounds. Example: The sound of a train,
   The only other sound’s the sweep  

Of easy wind and downy flake
The above couplet is adorned with auditory imagery as the sound of wind triggers a reader's sense of hearing to hear the sound of wind imaginatively.

3. Olfactory: Dealing with the sense of scents. Example: The sweet aroma of red roses
4. Gustatory: Dealing with the sense of taste. Example: The sweetness of apples
5. Tactile: A literary person uses a reader's imaginative sense of touch to create a tactile imagery:
   Example:
   Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines (Sonnet No. 18 by William Shakespeare)
   In above mono-stich, hotness of the sun impulses a reader's sense of touch to feel the heat imaginatively.

Symbolism

Use of words, things, colours and incidents to denote to abstract ideas is termed as Symbolism. The meaning of symbolic objects are quite different from their literal meanings. There are two kinds of symbolism:

1. Conventional symbols:
   Such symbols are used conventionally. These symbols may have universal identity.
   Examples:

Symbol	Usage
Red Rose	Love
Throne	Hardships in life
Dove	Peace
Black colour	Death or evil
White colour	Purity
Sea	Depth of life

2. Unconventional symbols:
   Such symbols are used unconventionally. It holds an element of conceit in it.

Irony

Typically humorous in nature, expression of one's meanings by using the language which normally signifies the opposite is known as irony. It has been divided into three major types:

1. Verbal Irony
   The difference between what is said and what is meant is termed as verbal irony.
   Example:
   She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me. (Pride and Prejudice)
   Darcy, seems unwilling to dance with a girl but later, she ends up making her way to his heart.
2. Situational Irony
   Difference between what is expected and what happens is called Situational Irony
   Example:
   In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus quests for the murderer of King Laius and ends up being a murderer himself.
   2.1 Cosmic Irony:
   Difference between opinions and actions of gods and those of humans is known as Cosmic Irony.
   Example:
   In Oedipus Rex, the fate of patricide and incest is designed by gods and no matter how hard Oedipus tries to avoid fulfilling the oracle, in the end, he is doomed as a result of his quest of his origin.
3. Dramatic Irony:
   Difference between the knowledge of audience and actors is termed as Dramatic Irony.
   Example:
   In Oedipus Rex, the audience is aware of the crimes accomplished by Oedipus but he learns about them in scene 4 by Theban Shepherd.

Allegory

An allegory is a literary work which conveys a hidden moral, social, situational and historical ideas through living characters. But symbolism portrays hidden meanings by using physical objects, I.e. birds or any other non-living object. The universally common allegory is the story of "A Hare and a Tortoise", while allegorising the fact of "Slow and steady wins the race" through slowly but a straight movement of the tortoise.
In previous centuries, it was quite hard to write against the sham and vain policies of the government. The writers used to implement allegory in their writings to criticize accordingly, but stealthly.

Literary Examples:

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell
2. Paradise Lost by John Milton
3. The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

Oxymoron

Two opposite words, coined together side-by-side to give it a distinctive and dramatic make-over. In Paradox, two contrasting statements may be consist of a long sentence or a group of sentences. But oxymoron is made of adjective and proceeding noun in it, both carrying opposite meanings.

Examples:

1. Beautifully ugly
2. Open secret
3. Passive aggressive
4. Sadly happy
5. Tragic comedy
6. Seriously funny
7. Foolish wisdom
8. Original copies

Literary examples:
No light, rather darkness visible (Paradise Lost by John Milton)

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare)

Antithesis

Use of opposite ideas, contrary statements in a line or in multiple sentences is known as antithesis.

Literary examples:

A small step for man, a giant leap for the mankind (Walking on the Moon by David R. Scot)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the another way. (A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens)

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a literary device in which ideas and emotions are presented in exaggerated form which should not be taken literally.

Examples

What We Say	What We Mean
He is an elephant.	He is fat.
Her wimple weighed 10 pounds	Her wimple is of considerable weight.
You need to clean up the room with the Nile.	You need to clean up the room with a large amount of water.
He saw his childhood friends after ages.	He saw his childhood friends after a long time.
I love Ophelia Forty thousand brothers could not even With all their love make up my sum	Macbeth says he loves his beloved very much.

Euphemism

Euphemism is a literary device which is for the expression of harsh, immoral or impolite comments in a polite manner but the idea is conveyed clearly.

Examples

What We Say	What We Mean
You are an interesting fellow.	You are a stupid fellow.
Your brother has passed away.	Your brother has died.
Please go into the common room and relax.	Get out of the class!
You are becoming a little thin on the top.	You are becoming bald.
He is a special child.	He is a disabled child.
Iago: I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.	Lago says to Barbantio that Othello and his daughter are enjoying their unauthorized relationship (having sex).

Synecdoche

It is a literary device which represents something wholly through its part or something in part for the whole thing, person or specific geographical area.

Example

What We Say	What We Mean
Boots are blamed to be involved in political affairs of Pakistan.	Military is blamed to be involved in political affairs of Pakistan.
Islamabad is ready for a dialogue with India.	The whole Pakistan or our foreign ministry is ready for a dialogue with India.
Multan won the match by 6 runs.	The Multani team won the match by 6 runs.
The whole college is on holiday on Saturday.	The Masters class is on holiday on Saturday.
Please, let me taste your samosas a little.	Please, let me eat the whole samosa which you are carrying with you.
“Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them.” P. B. Shelley Ozymandias	The poet uses the phrase of hands to denote the humans who took part in building the enormous lifeless statue of proud-some Ozymandias.

Litotes

The common-day figure of speech which is used to express positive statements through the use of dual negative phrases.

Examples

What We Say	What We Mean
He is not a bad person.	He is a good person.
Swords are not useless for soldiers.	Swords are useful for soldier.
First, he has head to the Achilles, That man will not kill you, He will restrain all other men, For he is not stupid. (Illiad - Homer)	In these verses, Homer wants to state that Achilles is a friendly and intelligent person.
"I am not unaware how the productions of the Grub Street brotherhood have of late years fallen under many prejudices." (A Tale of the Tub - Jonathan Swift)	I am aware of how the productions of the Grub Street brotherhood have of late years fallen under many prejudices.
Parents to their children: "We are not your enemies. "	Parents assert to their children that they are well-wishers and friends for their issues.