POETIC DEVICES
The song does it
MOOD

The emotional tone, the feeling that one gets from the
description of the setting.
“I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord
I’ve been waiting for this moment, all my life, Oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord, Oh
Lord”
-Phil Collins
What kind of mood does these first lines give our
listener?
What do the opening rifts of the guitar do for the mood
of the poem?
STANZA
The grouping of verse lines in a poem—longer
than a single line.
 FYI: a single line of poetry is called a verse.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
 --Dylan Thomas, Do not go Gentle into that Good Night”

What do you notice about the lines?
Its punctuation?
INTERNAL RHYME


The repetition of sounds in two or more words or
phrases that appear in the same line of a poem.
“She said it’s really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or
misconstrued
But I’ll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover.”
ONOMATOPOEIA

Words whose definition comes from the sounds
they make.
Think Batman and the old television series.
Every time there was a hit it was POW, SMACK,
BAM!
 Flush your toilet, crack your gum, or shatter a
piece of glass: the sound you hear, is another
example of this poetic device.
 Listen in the song, what examples can your ears
pick up?

ASSONANCE

The repetition of similar vowel sounds
What is the vowel sound that you hear repeatedly
during this song?
The answer is? An a sound, an e sound
REFRAIN

A line or part of a line, a group of lines, which is
repeated in the course of the poem—they can be
changed slightly and they usually come at the
end of the stanza.
Those of us who are musicians know refrain
because when we sing it is usually called the
chorus or refrain.
What do the Fab Four use as their refrain in this
song, She Loves You?
MOTIF


A recurring feature which can be a name, image
or phrase in a work of literature.
What did the man sail to the sea?
ALLITERATION



‘Tis the opposite of assonance
It is the repetition in a group of words of similar
consonant sounds.
What is our repeated consonant sound in the
song we have just heard?
SYMBOL




No, it is not a percussion device
Look around you in this room, do you see any
symbols?
Something that represents something bigger
than it actually is a symbol.
What is our symbol in Willie Nelson’s song?
(CLASSICAL) ALLUSION

The author makes reference to something of
literary note in his/her works, and the reader is
expected to know the reference.
ALLUSION

Same as classical, but has one difference: the
author makes reference to a historical person,
place, or event in his/her literary work.
CONNOTATION


It is the choice of words that fit the perception of
the word.
What do the words “Escape” and “Pina Colada”
connote for the voice in this song?
METAPHOR
It is the
comparison
of two
unlike
things
SIMILE

The comparison of two unlike things using the
words like or as.
PERSONIFICATION
When the
author
gives non
human
things
human like
qualities.