LIST OF LITERARY DEVICES IN CLASS XII POEMS

LIST OF LITERARY DEVICES IN CLASS XII POEMS

SIMILE: Compares one thing to another (of a different kind, and yet alike in some significant way)

S. No	Line	Poem
1	‘Windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs.’	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
2	like rootless weeds	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
3	like bottle bits on stone	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
4	her face ashen like that of a corpse	My Mother at Sixty-six
5	As a late winter’s moon	My Mother at Sixty-six

           

METAPHOR: A word or phrase for one thing that is used in place of another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar. ‘Like’ or ‘As’ is not used in metaphor.

S. No	Line	Poem
1	merry children spilling out of their homes	My Mother at Sixty-six
2	In the shade	Keeping Quiet
3	bower quiet	A Thing of Beauty
4	sweet dreams	A Thing of Beauty
5	wreathing a flowery band	A Thing of Beauty
6	endless fountain of immortal drink	A Thing of Beauty
7	paper seeming boy	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
8	civilized dome riding all cities	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
9	their future’s painted with a fog	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
10	a lead sky	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
11	turn in their cramped holes	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
12	On their slag heap	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
13	History is theirs whose language is the sun	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
14	Rat's eyes	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
15	endless night	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
16	Bright topaz denizens	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Personification: The practice of representing an inanimate object or an abstract idea as a person, and endowing it with human traits.

S. No	Line	Poem
1	Trees sprinting	My Mother at Sixty-six
2	Sadness that lurks near the open window there/ that waits all day	A Roadside Stand
3	Voice of country	A Roadside Stand

REPETITION: THE REPEATED USE WORD OR WORD PATTERN

S. No	Line	Poem
1	Smile and smile and smile…	My Mother at Sixty-six

SYMBOLISM: The practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea

S. No	Line	Poem
1	‘Count to twelve	Keeping Quiet
2	Fishermen in the cold sea…hurt hands	Keeping Quiet
3	Brothers	Keeping Quiet
4	Earth can teach us as when everything	Keeping Quiet
5	simple sheep	A Thing of Beauty
6	Wedding band	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
7	Aunt Jennifer-	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
8	Tigers	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
9	Yellow (bright topaz)	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
10	Embroidery	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the beginning of the words

S. No	Line	Poem
1	noble natures	A Thing of Beauty
2	cooling covert	A Thing of Beauty
3	band to bind	A Thing of Beauty
4	Greedy good doers	A Roadside Stand
5	beneficent beasts of prey	A Roadside Stand
6	pathetically pled	A Roadside Stand
7	Finger’s fluttering	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
8	prancing proud	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
9	chivalric certainty	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
10	weight of wedding band	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
11	From Fog	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Imagery: Use figurative language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses

S. No	Line	Poem
1	flowery bands	A Thing of Beauty
2	shady boon	A Thing of Beauty
3	daffodils in green world	A Thing of Beauty
4	clear rills	A Thing of Beauty
5	cooling covert	A Thing of Beauty
6	grandeur of dooms	A Thing of Beauty
7	endless fountain of eternal drink	A Thing of Beauty
8	the sun	An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
9	Bright topaz denizens	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
10	world of green	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Transferred Epithet: The modifier or epithet is transferred from the noun it is meant to describe to another noun in the sentence

S. No	Line	Poem
1	gloomy days	A Thing of Beauty
2	unhealthy and o’er darkened ways	A Thing of Beauty
3	Polished traffic (the traffic is not polished, people are polished)	A Roadside Stand
4	Selfish cars	A Roadside Stand
5	Terrified fingers	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Oxymoron: The conjoining of two contradictory words.

S. No	Line	Poem
1	Greedy good doers	A Roadside Stand
2	beneficent beasts of prey	A Roadside Stand

Irony

S. No	Line	Poem
1	Tigers	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers