INTRODUCTION
We should recall at this point the emphasis we placed on the figurative or connotative nature of the language of poetry in our consideration of several definitions of the genre in our previous articles. Among other points, we stressed that poetry communicates experiences in language deliberately selected and arranged by the poet to create specific emotional as well as intellectual responses through meaning, sound and rhythm. Another related point we made was that poetry, in line with the general nature of literature, communicates experiences through indirection. This deliberately contrived and indirect/suggestive language of poetry is achieved, mainly, through some figurative usages among which are irony, paradox, metaphor, simile, apostrophe, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, etc, which we shall discuss in this article.
Contrast
Contrast has been defined by RN Egudu as “the technique of juxtaposing ‘unlike characters, ideas, or images for the purpose of furthering or heightening an effect’”. He continues, “like irony, or paradox, contrast is a device of finding direction by indirection which … is part of what poetry is” (77). On the other hand, Hugh Holman refers to it as a rhetorical device and goes on to stress its function of emphasis and clarity whenever it is deployed in a poem or any other form of writing. In simple terms, contrast comes into play and its effect is effectively felt when ideas, objects, persons, situations are placed side by side in a context in which their opposite qualities are made clear and striking.
It is important to note that if these ideas, persons, objects, etc are made to stand alone, the clarity engendered by this device of contrast would be lacking. It is in this sense that Egudu has seen the device as a veritable means of “finding direction by indirection”; it serves to throw into sharp relief the differences between the ideas, objects, situations or characters contrasted/juxtaposed. The following examples will illustrate the workings of contrast in a poem.
In the poem “Loser of Everything” by David Mandessi Diop, contrast achieves the poet’s desired effect of highlighting the stark different realities in two historical periods in the national life of postcolonial society; a natural and peaceful order depicted in nature imagery (in the first ten lines) and a ravished and militarised order represented in images of machines and corruption (in the last ten lines). By juxtaposing these two contrasting orders, the socio-political existence in a typical pre-colonial African setting and that in a colonial regime become very clear and heightened.
The sun used to laugh in my hut
And my women were lovely and lissom
Like palms in the evening breeze.
My children would glide over the mighty river
Of deadly depths
And my canoes would battle with crocodiles.
The motherly moon accompanied our dances
The heavy frantic rhythm of the tom-tom,
Tom-tom of joy, tom-tom of carefree life.
Amid the fires of liberty.
Then one day, Silence…
It seemed the rays of the sun went out
In my hut empty of meaning.
My women crushed their painted mouths
On the thin hard lips of steel-eyed conquerors
And my children left their peaceful nakedness
For the uniform of iron and blood.
Your voice went out too
The irons of slavery tore my heart to pieces
Tom-tom of my nights, tom-toms of my fathers.
Hammer Blows
Another example of the use of contrast is available in the poem “Virtue” by the
English metaphysical poet, George Herbert as follows:
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of earth and sky,
The dew shall weep thy fall tonight
For thou must die
Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave;
And thou must die.
Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie,
My music shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.
Only a sweet and virtuous soul,
Like seasoned timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.
Helen Gardner
To underscore the endless currency of the abstract Virtue, it is juxtaposed with the ephemeral “Sweet day”, “Sweet rose”, “Sweet spring” which must all inevitably die. By placing these phenomena beside the “sweet and virtuous soul”, the difference between them is shown by indirection as they ‘speak’ by themselves.
Apostrophe
As we have seen so far in our examination of the devices and examples of their uses in the sections above, poets are consistently seeking and utilizing different techniques to concretise, emphasise, and heighten meaning in their works. We have seen how this is achieved through irony, paradox, contrast. We shall now turn our attention to apostrophe which is a direct and straight forward “address either to an absent person or to an abstract or inanimate entity” (Abrams 149).
Poets use the apostrophe to the give the impression or sense of immediacy as well as the emotional involvement/outpouring in their works; that is, it enables both the poet and the reader to have a feeling of nearness and a sense of presence of the person or entity addressed in a poem. You will agree with me that this usage equally aids the reader’s imaginative realisation of meaning in a poem. Let us consider the following examples to illustrate these qualities and functions of this rhetorical figure of speech:
- Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain
Where health and plenty cheer the labouring swain
Oliver Goldsmith “The Deserted Village”
- O dawn
Where do you hide your paint at night
That cool breath, that scent
With which you sweeten the early air?
O dawn
What language do you use
To instruct the birds to sing
Their early songs
And insects to sound
The rhythm of an African heartbeat?
Susan Lwanga “Daybreak”
- Before you, mother Idoto,
naked I stand,
before your watery presence,
a prodigal
leaning on an oilbean,
lost in your legend…
Christopher Okigbo “Idoto”
In these three excerpts, the poets address abstract and inanimate objects or entities as if they were living and sensate. As we have mentioned above, the device is a ready tool for the poet’s emotional expression and this is evident in the direct addresses in the forms of eulogy and adulation directed to the village of Auburn that is no more (in excerpt 1), the evanescent dawn (as in excerpt 2) and a revered female godhead, Idoto (in excerpt 3).
- Antithesis
This is a rhetorical figure of speech achieved by the poet by juxtaposing or placing side by side two contrasting phrases or statements to create expressional balance. In the words of Abrams, it “is a contrast or opposition in meaning, emphasised by a parallel in grammatical structure” (10). An interesting quality of this device is its wittiness and ability to surprise through abrupt apposition.
As ingenious and attractive as it may be in a poem, Hugh Holman (35 – 36) has cautioned that it could lose its significance and surprise if overused. He then advises that “true antithetical structure demands that there be not only an opposition of ides, but that the opposition in different parts be manifested through similar grammatical structure – the noun “wretches” being opposed by the noun “jury-men” and the verb “hang” by the verb “dine”, as in the following example:
The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang that jury-men may dine
Other examples of antithesis that obey the above structure and are likely to be
familiar to you:
- To err is human, to forgive divine
- For many are called, but few are chosen
- Once bitten, twice shy
Hyperbole
This is the use of deliberate exaggeration or overstatement for emphasis or to achieve a humorous effect, without any intention to deceive the reader or audience. It is the opposite of litotes. (Look this up in a dictionary of glossary of literary terms). As in common usage amongst you and your friends, you should be in a position to appreciate the deployment and effect of exaggeration in communication. Take, for example, when you walk into your friend’s room after a long day of back-to-back lectures and say: “I want to eat a basin of eba”.
Certainly, you know that you are not capable of eating that quantity of food; but you have made the statement to emphasise how hungry you are as well as to achieve humour. The following excerpts from Robert Burn’s poem, “A Red, Red Rose”, will equally illustrate the nature and effect of hyperbole:
O my love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June:
O my love is like the melody,
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.
You should take note of the words and lines highlighted in the stanzas and attempt to appreciate, enjoy and be able to discuss their effectiveness as hyperbole.
Onomatopoeia
This rhetorical figure, according to Abrams, “is applied to a word, or a combination of words, whose sound seems to resemble the sound it denotes:
‘hiss’, ‘buzz’, ‘rattle’, ‘bang’” (118). In other words, this figure involves the use
of words whose pronunciation echo or suggest their meaning. For example, the
highlighted words in the following lines excerpted from Coleridge’s “The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner” intimate their meaning through an artful matching of
sound to sense:
- The ice was all around:
It crack’d, growl’d, and roar,d
- With heavy thump, … …
They dropp’d one by one
- And every soul, it pass’d me by
Like the whizz of my crossbow!
The closing lines of David Rubadiri’s “An African Thunderstorm” also contains some words whose sounds resemble and suggest their meaning, as follows:
As jaggered blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble, and crack
Oxymoron
In oxymoron, two words or phrases of opposite or contrary/contrasting meanings are placed side by side to achieve a rhetorical effect. While such a juxtaposition may seem to be “pointedly foolish”, it achieves sharp emphasis in the context in which it is used. Examples are the following phrases and expressions: bittersweet; loving hate; pleasing pain; kindly unkind; I burn and freeze; resounding silence; conspicuous absence; a dearness that lacerates; etc.
Good day I am so glad I found your weblog, I really found you by mistake,
while I was searching on Askjeeve for something else, Anyways I am here
now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all
round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through
it all at the moment but I have saved it and also included your
RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the
excellent work.
There is some nice and utilitarian information on this site.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but
I need some guidance from an established blog.
Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure
things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m
not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions?
Cheers
It’s going to be end of mine day, but before end I
am reading this wonderful post to increase my know-how.
Thanks for finally writing about > POETIC DEVICES: RHETORICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH
– Recruitment Portal < Liked it!
Hi there colleagues, fastidious article and nice urging commented here, I am in fact enjoying by these.
Appreciation to my father who informed me on the topic of this website, this website is in fact
awesome.
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first
comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up
what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything.
Do you have any helpful hints for novice blog writers?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Simply want to say your article is as surprising.
The clearness to your publish is simply spectacular and that i could think you
are an expert on this subject. Well along with your permission allow me
to clutch your feed to keep up to date with imminent post. Thank you a million and please carry on the gratifying work.
I could not refrain from commenting. Well written!
Everything is very open with a precise explanation of the issues.
It was truly informative. Your site is extremely helpful.
Many thanks for sharing!
These are actually great ideas in about blogging. You have touched some pleasant factors here.
Any way keep up wrinting.
Pretty! This was an incredibly wonderful article.
Thank you for supplying this info.
Marvelous, what a web site it is! This webpage provides
useful information to us, keep it up.
Hmm it seems like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long)
so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say,
I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new
to everything. Do you have any tips for inexperienced blog writers?
I’d really appreciate it.
It’s wonderful that you are getting ideas from this piece of writing as well as from our argument made
at this place.
Wow, this post is pleasant, my younger sister is analyzing these kinds of things,
so I am going to let know her.
At this time it looks like Expression Engine is the top blogging
platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that
what you are using on your blog?
Pozycjonowanie tera strony rozpoczęliśmy w połowie
2020 roku, niedługo op tym, gdy Google zdewaluowało
jej wartość na skutek wcześniejszego zastosowania niedozwolonych
taktyk pozycjonerskich.
Regularne monitorowanie, analiza document raportowanie to klucz complete długotrwałego sukcesu.
This post provides clear idea for the new people of
blogging, that in fact how to do blogging.
Wow, this paragraph is good, my sister is analyzing these kinds of things, so I am going to inform her.
Hey There. I found your weblog the usage of msn. That is a really smartly written article.
I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn more of your
useful info. Thanks for the post. I’ll certainly return.
Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am inspired!
Very helpful info specifically the ultimate section 🙂 I
care for such information a lot. I used to be looking for this certain info
for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
Hi to all, the contents existing at this website are actually
awesome for people experience, well, keep up the
nice work fellows.
Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed!
Very helpful info specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such info a lot.
I was looking for this certain info for a long time.
Thank you and good luck.
What i don’t realize is actually how you are no longer actually a
lot more neatly-preferred than you might be right
now. You’re very intelligent. You recognize thus significantly relating to
this matter, produced me individually believe it from so many various angles.
Its like men and women are not interested until it’s something to accomplish with Lady gaga!
Your own stuffs outstanding. At all times care for it up!
Hey would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re
using? I’m planning to start my own blog soon but
I’m having a difficult time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique.
P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Excellent article! We are linking to this particularly great content
on our site. Keep up the good writing.
Every weekend i used to visit this web site, because i want
enjoyment, since this this web site conations truly fastidious funny stuff
too.
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your post seem
to be running off the screen in Safari. I’m not sure
if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d
post to let you know. The style and design look great though!
Hope you get the issue solved soon. Many thanks
Keep on working, great job!
Heya this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to
know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hello it’s me, I am also visiting this web site daily, this site is actually good and the visitors are genuinely sharing fastidious thoughts.
Very well presented. Every quote was awesome and thanks for sharing the content. Keep sharing and keep motivating others.
You need to take part in a contest for one of the best blogs online.
I’m going to recommend this blog!
Regular communication about expectations prevents misunderstandings and conflicts.
It’s amazing to pay a visit this web page and reading
the views of all friends on the topic of this post, while I am also zealous of
getting familiarity.
A person necessarily assist to make critically articles
I would state. This is the first time I frequented your website page and to this point?
I amazed with the research you made to create
this particular submit amazing. Excellent process!
Hi there! This is my 1st comment here so
I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy
reading through your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics?
Thanks!
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this article plus the rest of
the site is extremely good.
When someone writes an article he/she keeps the plan of a user in his/her brain that how a user can know it.
Therefore that’s why this piece of writing is great.
Thanks!
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I do not know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
My brother recommended I might like this web site.
He was entirely right. This post actually made my day.
You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
Its selection also incorporates BetMGM exclusives, like Loot’EnKhamun and
the Dead Sea Scrolls, table games, reside dealer games,
and progressive jackpots.
Hi there all, here every one is sharing such knowledge, therefore
it’s fastidious to read this website, and I used to pay a
quick visit this weblog everyday.
I’ll immediately take hold of your rss feed as I can not in finding your
email subscription link or newsletter service.
Do you’ve any? Please let me know so that I may just subscribe.
Thanks.
I’ve been surfing on-line more than 3 hours lately, yet I never discovered any fascinating article like
yours. It’s lovely worth sufficient for me.
Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content
as you probably did, the net can be a lot more useful than ever before.
I have been browsing online more than three hours today,
yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made
good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
Terrific work! This is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared around the
web. Shame on Google for not positioning this
submit upper! Come on over and consult with my website . Thank you =)
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked
submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing
all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Hi there, You have done a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg
it and personally recommend to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from
this site.
Do you have a spam issue on this website; I also am a blogger, and I
was wanting to know your situation; many of us have developed some nice methods and we are looking to swap
solutions with others, why not shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Just wish to say your article is as astounding.
The clearness in your post is simply excellent and i
could assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please carry on the enjoyable work.
Your style is really unique in comparison to other
people I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you’ve got the
opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this blog.
A cover letter states your interest in the job and highlights key expertise and expertise
that are detailed in your resume.
I will right away take hold of your rss feed as I can’t in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service.
Do you have any? Kindly allow me realize in order that I could subscribe.
Thanks.
Hey There. I discovered your blog using msn. That is a very well written article.
I’ll make sure to bookmark it and return to read extra of your helpful information. Thank you for the post.
I’ll definitely return.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across
this board and I in finding It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to give something back and aid others such as you
aided me.
Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog website?
The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted
of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
I like it whenever people come together and share opinions.
Great website, continue the good work!
GOOD DAY SIR/MA
HAVE YOU HELD ABOUT RICH CONNECT TRUST INVESTMENT…?
RICH CONNECT TRUST INVESTMENT is a matrix system which give you DOUBLE of your CAPITAL back in ( 45 Minutes ) after Registrations
RICH CONNECT PACKAGES
N20,000——N40,000
N40,000——N80,000
N50,000——N100,000
N100,000—–N200,000
N150,000—–N350,000
N300,000—–N600,000
N200,000—–N400,000
N400,000—–N800,000
N500,000—–N1,000,000
NOTE: we credit your account after 45mins of Your Registeration
INTRODUCTION
RICH CONNECT TRUST Investment is a company duely registered under the Coporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria and certified fraud free to do business in Nigeria by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This is a Nigerian network marketing company founded by Okafor Alex Monye with it’s Head Quarter’s. The company takes pride in the fact that it stands out amongst other network marketing companies. It has the best compensation plan, affordable and effective services, systems that keeps her customers coming back for more. When you join this company, you get more than their outstanding services.
07046246360
ITS SIMPLE HERE!!!!!!!
We trade with hard currency here like bit coin we make 3tripple of your donation and send you you two part and we benefit one part Example if you invest with 100k within 45mins we make profit of 300k then send 200k to you then profit 100k This is not mmm where they merge people to donate for each other
You pay directly to us and we credit you directly
Contact Mr. GOODLUCK TIMOTHY
07046246360
NOTE:- YOU GET CREDITED BACK IN LESS THAN 45 MINUTES.
CHAT US-UP IF INTEREST FILL YOUR FORM AND START EARNING
NOTE: You can finish reading this and decide not to take the necessary actions, but the next time you want to complain about not having money, just know that you are on your own problem.