POETIC DEVICES A poetic device is the way a poet uses words in a poem for effect. The main poetic devices that you may have already learnt about are: Simile: is another name for comparison. When you compare objects. Similes compare two or more things using the words, like or as. For example, Ella is tall like a giraffe. Alexa is small as a mouse. Metaphor: A metaphor is also a comparison between two things, but while a simile says one object is ‘like’ another or is ‘as’ something as another the metaphor omits like and as. For example, Lawson is a clown. Jim is a speeding bullet. Personification: When you use personification, you attribute human characteristics to objects. For example, smiling is something that humans can do. When you use personification, you might say that the sun is smiling, even though the sun cannot smile the way a human does, or you might say that a dark cloud is shedding tears. Onomatopoeia: This is the term used for words and noises that sound the same; words that name the sound that they make, such as crash, bang or boom. Alliteration: this is the term used to describe repetition of the same sound in a line, stanza or sometimes a poem. For example, She sells sea shells by the sea shore. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN READ THROUGH THE POEMS ON THE NEXT FEW PAGES LOCATE THE PARTICULAR POETIC DEVICES USED AND ANNOTATE THEM ACCORDINGLY. SINCE HANNA MOVED AWAY By Judith Viorst The tires on my bike are flat. The sky is grouchy grey. At least it sure feels like that Since Hanna moved away. Chocolate ice cream tastes like prunes. December’s come to stay. They’ve taken back the Mays and Junes Since Hanna moved away. Flowers smell like halibut. Velvet feels like hay. Every handsome dog’s a mutt Since Hanna moved away. Nothing’s fun to laugh about. Nothing’s fun to play. They call me, but I won’t come out Since Hanna moved away. DREAMS By Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field frozen with snow. I TOLD A LIE TODAY By Robin Mellor I told a lie today and it curled up inside me like a steel hard spring It was quite a clever lie, no one guessed the truth, they believed me. But I’ve carried the twist of it at the centre of my body, all day, and I think it’s expanding, filling me up, making my eyes feel red. Perhaps it’s going to uncoil suddenly and burst me open, showing everyone what I’m really like. I think I had better confess, before I’m completely unwound. WIND By Amy Lowell He shouts in the sails of the ships at sea, He steals the down from the honeybee, He makes the forest trees rustle and sing, He twirls my kite till it breaks its string Laughing, dancing, sunny wind, Whistling, howling, raining wind, North, South, East and West, Each is the wind I like the best. He calls up the fog and hides the hills, He whirls the wings of the great windmills The weathercocks love him and turn to discover His whereabouts-but he’s gone, the rover! Laughing, dancing, sunny wind, Whistling, howling, rainy wind, North, South, East and West, Each is the wind I like best. The pine trees toss him their cones With glee, The flowers bend ow in courtesy, Each wave flings up a shower of pearls, The flag in front of the school unfurls. Laughing, dancing, sunny wind, Whistling, howling, rainy wind, North, South, East and West, Each is the wind I like best. THE RUSTY SPIGOT By Eve Merriam The rusty spigot sputters, utters, a splutter, spatters a smattering of drops, gashes wider; slash, splatters, spurts, finally stops sputtering and plash! gushes rushes splashes clear water dashes. S…S…SNAKE By Jill McDougall S…s…snake is very slippery, S…s…snake is very quiet, Silent as a sliding shadow, S…s…snake is out tonight. S…s…snake is coming closer S…s…snake is smooth as ice, Slipping down the silvery sand-hill, S…s…snake is out tonight. Down the sand-hill, through the bushes, Hunting frogs and hopping mice, SNAP! She’s found her slippery supper, S…s…snake is out tonight.
