ENGLISH 11: POETIC DEVICES
All examples are from poems written by Aboriginal People in Canada
SOUND DEVICES ~
Poems are meant to be heard
Alliteration: the neighbouring words begin with the same letter or sound.
So busy singing your songs ~ Emma LaRocque
Assonance: Similarity of vowel sounds.
Some day go back
so all can gather again ~ Chief Dan George
Cacophony: The harsh, discordant sound.
gulls chatter and scream ~ Duncan Mercredi
Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds.
The song that brings to life
The hunt ~ Susan Aglukark
Euphony: The inherent sweetness of the sound.
Chinook, Chinook, tender and mild
Sings a sage-brush lullaby . . . ~ Leonora Hayden McDowell
Onomatopoeia: The sound of the word mimics the sound to which it refers.
With a mighty crash,
They seethe, and boil, and bound, and splash ~ Pauline Johnson
Rhyme: Similarity of sounds between words.
West wind, blow from your prairie nest,
Blow from the mountains, blow from the west.
The sail is idle, the sailor too;
O! wind of the west, we wait for you. ~ Pauline Johnson
Rhythm: The flow of the poem created by alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.
Blow, Blow!
I have wooed you so,
But never a favor you bestow.
You rock your cradle the hills between,
But scorn to notice my white lateen. ~ Pauline Johnson
IMAGERY ~
Poetic pictures created with the five senses and figurative language. Imagery both creates atmosphere
and signifies meaning.
Hyperbole: Exaggeration.
The perch were shoving and swimming
shoving and swimming ~ Trevor Cameron
Juxtaposition: Two or more things are placed side by side, even though they usually arent associated
with each other.
Lightning and feathers mark her trail ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie
Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things.
Rainbows my yarn
The sky is my loom ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie
Metonymy: Symbolism through association.
the eye of the raven ~ Wayne Keno
Mood: The emotional environment of the poem, also called atmosphere. These words from Farewell
create a quiet, reflective mood:
What is life
It is a flash of a firefly . . . ~ Isapo muxika (Chief Crowfoot)
Oxymoron: Two words are placed side by side even though they usually have opposite meanings.
gorgeous beast ~ Trevor Cameron
Personification: To give human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas.
August is laughing across the sky. ~ Pauline Johnson
Simile: A direct comparison between two unlike things introduced by like or as.
Red light of evening
falls like rain ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie
Symbolism: To represent something abstract with something concrete.
Who hold the pens of power ~ Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
Synecdoche: A part represents the whole.
The sail is idle. ~ Pauline Johnson
OTHER POETIC TECHNIQUES
Allusion: a reference to some well known cultural or historical person, place, or event. (It is often a
subtle reference.)
Lovely Miss Johnson
and will you have tea now? ~ Joan Crate
Apostrophe: To address something animate or inanimate as an audience for ones innermost thoughts
and feelings.
West wind, blow from your prairie nest,
Blow from the mountains,
Blow from the west. ~ Pauline Johnson
Enjambment: The running on of a sentence from one line or couplet of poetry to the next, with little or
no pause.
When the bear emerges onto the bank
to dip its muzzle and drink ~ Randy Lundy
Humour: When an element of surprise occurs because our assumptions about a familiar situation or
perspective are challenged. Humour exposes contradictions and often relies on irony (e.g. the image of
an First Peoples dancer in cowboy boots and spurs).
it is a double-beat dance,
lows and prowls of spurs~ Garry Gottfriedson
Irony: What is said or done takes on the opposite meaning of what is literal or expected.
There are times when I feel that if I dont have a circle or the number four or legend in my
poetry, I am lost, just a fading urban Indian . . . ~ Marilyn Dumont
Parallel Structure: Repetition of grammatical structures to create rhythm and emphasis.
everybody everybody everybodys lookin for lookin for sammy
down by the river
down by the river side ~ Gunargie OSullivan
Voice: A poet doesnt always write from the point of view of his or her own personal feelings and
experience as poetry is created through the imaginative powers of a poet. The voice of a poem might be
that of an invented character, a loved one, an historical figure who once lived, or even a spirit of nature.
You know dah big fight at Batoche?
Dah one where we fight dah Anglais? ~ Maria Campbell
