Allegory: An allegory is a narrative or description in which certain abstractions or concepts are represented by certain events, behaviours, characters, locations, or objects.Įxamples: The Tortoise and the Hare – Aesop’s Fablesġ3. As a popular English poetic device, it is actually a figure of speech that helps us understand the difference between reality and appearance.Įxamples: Stevie Smith’s Not Waving But Drowningġ2. Irony: In the literary landscape, words are often framed in such a way that their original meaning gets changed.(Robert Frost) English Poetic Devices Used to Change the Meaning of Words Allusion, which is yet another popularly used poetic device in English, is an ambiguous statement or phrase that leaves a reader in oblivion. Allusion: By this term, we can understand it is a phrase or a word that is meant to call something without mentioning it clearly. Rhythm: The flow of words throughout each meter and stanza creates rhythm and highlights particular elements of the poem.Įxamples: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare)ġ0. Cacophony: Cacophony is the use of unappealing, repulsive, or harsh noises (mostly consonants) to evoke chaos, disorder, or dread.Įxamples: “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! The frumious Bandersnatch!” (Lewis Carroll)ĩ. It is used in poetry as well as the prose sections.Įxamples: Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningĨ. Through such poetic devices in English, the words or phrases are repeated in sentences. Repetition: In order to put extreme emphasis on our writing style, we use the repetition technique. Soft consonant sounds like m, n, w, r, and f as well as consonants that vibrate, such s, sh, and th, are used to create this.Įxamples: “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (Shakespeare)ħ. Euphony: Euphony is the repetitive use of mellow, melodic tones that are enjoyable to read or listen to. Sometimes, the usage of this word gives a rhythmic mood in a writeup.Įxamples: Toss the glass, boss Dawn goes down Don’t creep and beep while grandpa falls asleepĦ. It is quite contrary to assonance’s repetition of vowel sounds. It can be understood as the repetition of sounds that are produced by the consonants in a phrase or a sentence.

Consonance: Falling under the list of poetic devices, Consonance is used in both prose and poetry.

However, they commence with different consonant sounds.Įxamples: “The crumbling thunder of seas” (Robert Louis Stevenson) “Strips of tinfoil winking like people” (Sylvia Plath)ĥ. Assonance: In a literary landscape, when two or more words that are close to each other repeats the same vowel sounds then such English poetic devices are known as Assonance. It is a tool that brings music to the poem in a proper rhythmic structure.Įxamples: Night-Bright, Skin-Grin, Frog-LogĤ. They play a decisive role in adding more charm and mood in the poem. Rhyme: Being the most important poetic devices, these are widely used while framing poems. Sometimes, a lliteration perfectly fits in tongue twisters.Įxamples: “She sells seashells by the sea-shore.”ģ. Most of the poets take alliteration into account while framing a particular poem as it adds charm and effectiveness. It is considered as the oldest poetic tool that is generally used for two or more words in a poem. Alliteration: One of the most used poetic devices, Alliteration is a phonetic structure and repeated usage of sound or letter used in the first syllable of a word. Examples: Splash, Murmur, Bang, Fwoosh, BuzzĢ.

Different moods of poems