Poetry Notes: Idiom, Oxymoron, & Allusion
Term
Definition
Idiom
An expression that means
something different from what
the words themselves mean
“Every task you undertake
becomes a piece of cake” from
Mary Poppins
When you go against what you
just said or state the opposite; a
juxtaposition of apparently
contradictory elements
An indirect reference to a wellknown literary work, historical
event, or significant
person/creature to evoke old
meanings and to create new
meanings
“Why is my reflection someone I don’t
know?” from Mulan
Oxymoron
Allusion
Clarification/ Additions
An Ancient Gesture
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)
I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
Penelope did this too.
And more than once: you can't keep weaving all day
And undoing it all through the night;
Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;
And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,
And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.
Suddenly you burst into tears;
There is simply nothing else to do.
And I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
This is an ancient gesture, authentic, antique,
In the very best tradition, classic, Greek;
Ulysses did this too.
But only as a gesture,—a gesture which implied
To the assembled throng that he was much too moved to speak.
He learned it from Penelope...
Penelope, who really cried.
Viva La Vida (2008)
Coldplay
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Example(s)
Dark light, living dead, the silence
whistles, controlled chaos, deafening
silence, sweet sorrow
'Cause you were Romeo – I was a
scarlet letter,
And my daddy said, "Stay away from
Juliet."
But you were everything to me,
I was begging you, "Please don't go."
Taylor Swift, “Love Song”
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever wanna be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Music Analysis: “The Cave” by Mumford and Sons
Now that you’ve learned about speakers and allusions in poetry, read the song lyrics to “The Cave” (2010) by Mumford
and Sons. Think about the meaning of the song. How does the artist use allusions to create meaning?
It's empty in the valley of your
heart
The sun, it rises slowly as you walk
Away from all the fears
And all the faults you've left
behind
Because I have other things to fill
my time
You take what is yours and I'll take
mine
Now let me at the truth
Which will refresh my broken mind
So come out of your cave walking
on your hands
And see the world hanging upside
down
You can understand dependence
When you know the maker's hand
The harvest left no food for you to
eat
You cannibal, you meat-eater, you
see
But I have seen the same
I know the shame in your defeat
So tie me to a post and block my
ears
I can see widows and orphans
through my tears
I know my call despite my faults
And despite my growing fears
So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to
say
But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck
But I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
Know my name as it's called again
And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called
again
Because I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be
And I will hold on hope
And I won't let you choke
On the noose around your neck
And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called
again
Homer—The Odyssey (8th cent. B.C.)
Then every ear I barr'd against the strain,
And from access of frenzy lock'd the brain.
Now round the masts my mates the fetters
roll'd,
And bound me limb by limb with fold on fold.
While to the shore the rapid vessel flies,
Our swift approach the Siren choir descries;
Celestial music warbles from their tongue,
And thus the sweet deluders tune the song:
Thus the sweet charmers warbled o'er the
main;
My soul takes wing to meet the heavenly
strain;
I give the sign, and struggle to be free;
Swift row my mates, and shoot along the sea;
New chains they add, and rapid urge the way
Till, dying off, the distant sounds decay
G.K. Chesterton—Saint Francis of Assisi (1924)
The man who went into the cave was not the man who came out again; in that sense he was almost as different as if he were dead, as if he were
a ghost or a blessed spirit. And the effects of this on his attitude towards the actual world were really as extravagant as any parallel can make
them. He looked at the world as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole walking on his hands.
If a man saw the world upside down, with all the trees and towers hanging head downwards as in a pool, one effect would be to emphasize the
idea of dependence. There is a Latin and literal connection; for the very word dependence only means hanging. It would make vivid the Scriptural
text which says that God has hung the world upon nothing. If Saint Francis had seen, in one of his strange dreams, the town of Assisi upside
down, it need not have differed in a single detail from itself except in being entirely the other way round. But the point is this: that whereas to
the normal eye the large masonry of its walls or the massive foundations of its watchtowers and its high citadel would make it seem safer and
more permanent, the moment it was turned over the very same weight would make it seem more helpless and more in peril. It is but a symbol;
but it happens to fit the psychological fact. Saint Francis might love his little town as much as before, or more than before; but the nature of the
love would be altered even in being increased. He might see and love every tile on the steep roofs or every bird on the battlements; but he would
see them all in a new and divine light of eternal danger and dependence. Instead of being merely proud of his strong city because it could not be
moved, he would be thankful to God Almighty that it had not been dropped; he would be thankful to God for not dropping the whole cosmos like
a vast crystal to be shattered into falling stars.
James 1:27 from the Bible (James written AD 44-49)
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained
from the world.