Introduction to Stylistics

The Language Of Poetry

- Is the use of any of the literary/poetic language techniques that are used by poets to convey their
message.

- Is an imaginative language that makes a poem rich to a reader.

Examples of Poetic Language

1. Simile - is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things.
It draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as”.
- It conveys the idea of comparison in a given poem and creates an image at the mind of the reader.
- It allows poets to create poetic expressions and present information in an interesting, visual way by
creating images.

Example:
After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes
by Emily Dickinson

After great pain, a formal feeling comes--

The nerve sit ceremonious, like Tombs--
The stiff heart questions was it he, that bore,
And yesterday, or centuries before?

2. Metaphor - it is a figure of speech containing an implied comparison.

- It refers to words or expressions that mean something different from their literal definition.

- A comparison between two things in which you replace the name of the object for something more
abstract or less literal.

Example:
Hope
Hope is the thing with feathers
 That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune-- without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strongest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me
-Emily Dickinson

3. Personification - is a figure of speech that gives a human quality to a non-human being.

- It is intended to portray non-human objects in such a way that we feel they have the ability to act like
human beings.

- Poets use personification to make inanimate objects express feelings and perform actions.

Example:
She Sweeps With Many-Colored Brooms
by Emily Dickinson

She sweeps with many-colored brooms,

And leaves the shreds behind;
Oh, housewife in the evening west,
Come back, and dust the pond!

SOUND DEVICES
1. Assonance - it refers to the repetition of vowel sounds in a literary piece.

- It is primarily used in poetry, in order to add rhythm and music, by adding an internal rhyme to a poem.

Example:
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

He gives gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake
The woods are lovely, dark and deep

2. Consonance - it refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in a literary piece.

- Is a stylistic literary device identified by the repetition of identical or similar consonants in neighboring
words whose vowel sounds are different.

- It can be regarded as the counterpart to the vowel sound repetition called Assonance.

Example:
As Imperceptibly As Grief
by Emily Dickinson

A quietness distilled,
As twilight long begun,
Or nature spending with herself
Sequestered afternoon
Alcantara, Jailyn Joy P.
BSE - 4E
Prof. Lunar