00 02 Poetry and Language Devices

Poetry
and language devices

Performer Heritage
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2016
Poetry and language devices
1. Linguistic images
• A poem conveys its meaning through words
chosen and arranged in images.
• Three elements characterise each word:
the denotation
(dictionary definition)
the connotation
(the associations and feelings
evoked in the reader’s mind)
the sound
Performer Heritage
2. Comparisons
• Poets use comparisons to make their

descriptions more vivid or precise.
• When you analyse a poem, you should ask yourself:
- What things are being compared?

- How are they similar?
- How is the comparison achieved?
- What does the comparison convey?
- How does the comparison relate to the whole poem?
Performer Heritage
3. Simile
• A simile is a comparison between two things, which

is made explicit through the use of the following words:
‘like’ ‘than’ ‘as’ or ‘resembles’
• A simile is usually more striking if it compares

two essentially unlike things.
Performer Heritage
3. Simile
• Example:
And though so much distinguished, he was wise
And in his bearing modest as a maid
(G. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales)
• The functions of a simile are:
- to convey a more vivid idea of the scene or object;

- to make the meaning easier to understand;
- to introduce an element of surprise;
- to create an emotional response in the reader.
Performer Heritage
4. Metaphor
• While a simile establishes a comparison between two

separate things, a metaphor describes something as
if it were something else.
• It is a means of comparison between two things that

are basically dissimilar without connective words
such as ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Performer Heritage
4. Metaphor
• The elements of a metaphor are:
the tenor
(the subject of the metaphor)
the vehicle
(what the subject is compared to)
• The analogy between them, the ideas they share,

are called:
common ground
Performer Heritage
4. Metaphor
• Example:
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
(W. Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5)
tenor vehicle
Life walking shadow
common ground
impalpability
• This scheme can also be applied to the simile. Simile

and metaphor have more or less the same functions
even if the latter has a stronger emotional impact.
Performer Heritage
5. Personification
• Personification is another form of imagery which
attributes the characteristics of a living being
to abstract things or to inanimate objects.
• In the following lines the poet Chaucer speaks about

the spring wind:
When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath
Exhales an air in every grove and heath
(G. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales)
• Personification can be recognised by the use of the

capital letter (Zephyrus), of possessive adjective (his)
and verbs referring to human actions (exhales).
Performer Heritage
6. Symbol
A symbol is any thing, person, place or action that
•has a literal meaning;
• stands for something else, such as a quality,

an attitude, a belief or a value.
Performer Heritage
6. Symbol
• Most symbols are shared by the members of the same
cultural community and are therefore easy to
understand.
• Examples:
a rose symbol of love and beauty;
a skull symbol of death;
spring and winter symbols of youth and old
age.
• There are symbols, however, which are the individual

creation of a poet. In order to understand them, it will be
necessary to study and analyse not only the context of the
poem, but also the writer’s work and background.
Performer Heritage
7. Allegory
• Allegory combines a number of different symbols into a
totality, often a story.
• For example, in The Canterbury Tales:
the pilgrimage to
Canterbury = allegory of the journey
towards the celestial city
Performer Heritage
8. Oxymoron
• Oxymoron is the combination of two usually

contradictory things which is sometimes used
to express extreme feelings.
• Examples:
Sweet sorrow
Dear enemy
Performer Heritage
9. Hyperbole
• Hyperbole means exaggeration of a quantity,

a quality or a concept.
• It is often used in everyday language:
I have told you a thousand

times.
Performer Heritage
10. Litotes
• Litotes is the contrary of hyperbole, a rhetorical

understatement in which the negative of the opposite
meaning is used.
• Example:
You will find him not ill-disposed
=
He will be favourably disposed.
Performer Heritage
11. The language
of sense impressions
• The poet often employs words and expressions

which generate visual, auditory, olfactory or
tactile images.
• In other words, the poet uses the language of

sense impressions, which includes nouns,
adjectives and verbs.
• Finding the words referring to the five senses –

sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch – in a poem is
important to recreate the poet’s physical experience
and to understand its contribution to the meaning of
the poem.
Performer Heritage

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00 02 Poetry and Language Devices

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Poetry

and language devices

• Three elements characterise each word:

• Poets use comparisons to make their

• When you analyse a poem, you should ask yourself:

- What things are being compared?

• A simile is a comparison between two things, which

‘like’ ‘than’ ‘as’ or ‘resembles’

• A simile is usually more striking if it compares

• The functions of a simile are:

- to convey a more vivid idea of the scene or object;

• While a simile establishes a comparison between two

• It is a means of comparison between two things that

• The analogy between them, the ideas they share,

• This scheme can also be applied to the simile. Simile

• In the following lines the poet Chaucer speaks about

• Personification can be recognised by the use of the

A symbol is any thing, person, place or action that

•has a literal meaning;

• stands for something else, such as a quality,

• There are symbols, however, which are the individual

• For example, in The Canterbury Tales:

• Oxymoron is the combination of two usually

• Hyperbole means exaggeration of a quantity,

• It is often used in everyday language:

I have told you a thousand

• Litotes is the contrary of hyperbole, a rhetorical

You will find him not ill-disposed

• The poet often employs words and expressions

• In other words, the poet uses the language of

• Finding the words referring to the five senses –

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