Grade XII-Poetic Devices
Grade XII-Poetic Devices
A Roadside Stand
1. Transferred Epithet:
‘Selfish cars’ is yet another use of a transferred epithet. This refers to the car owners who do
stop at the roadside stand but to ask about the police or the gas stations.
3. Personification:
Alliteration is the repetition of consonants in a sequence of words. ‘Greedy good doers’ and
‘beneficent beasts of prey’.
Oxymoron is the juxtaposing of terms which are contraries or opposing ideas. Here’ greedy
and good’, ‘beneficent and beast’ are contrary ideas.
Keeping Quiet:
1
1. Alliteration: It is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
e.g. “we will count”, “sudden strangeness”, “stop for one second”,
“his hurt hands”, “clean clothes”.
2. Repetition: It is the repetition of phrases in the poem for poetic effect. e.g. “without
rush, without engines“.
3. Symbolism: The poet uses various symbols in the poem. e.g. “Brothers” symbolise
mankind, “green wars” refer to deforestation, “wars with gas” refers to pollution,
“clean clothes” symbolise change of perspective, “shade” symbolises protection etc.
4. Antithesis: It is the juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. e.g. “count to
twelve and we will all keep still”. Here counting and keeping still are contrasting
activities and are put together.
5. Personification: it is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human things and
animals. e.g. “Earth can teach us as when everything“.
6. Metaphor: It is used to make a comparison between two things that aren’t alike but
do have something in common. e.g. “shade” refers to protection.
7. Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence to the next line/stanza. In the poem,
many sentences continue to multiple lines. e.g. “Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.”, “For once on the face of the Earth let’s not speak in any
language, let’s stop for one second, and not move our arms so much.” etc.
8. Pun- the humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its
meanings- ‘arms’
A Thing of Beauty:
1. Metaphors
bower - a calm, pleasant shade.
sweet dreams - happy dreams.
flowery band - to bind us to earth.
pall - a cloth covering/a cloud of dust, smoke.
endless fountain of immortal drink - a shower of blessings of good health.
2. Alliteration
3. Imagery
A flowery band to bind us to the earth
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
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That for themselves a cooling covert make
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms
An endless fountain of immortal drink
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink