The Tyger

by William Blake

The Poet:

William Blake (1757-1827) is one of the key English poets of the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries. He is sometimes grouped with the Romantics, such as William
Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, although much of his work stands apart from
them and he worked separately from the Lake Poets.

Blake’s key themes are religion (verses from his poem Milton furnished the lyrics for the
patriotic English hymn ‘Jerusalem’), poverty and the poor, and the plight of the most
downtrodden or oppressed within society. He is not a ‘nature’ poet in the same way that his
fellow Romantics are: he seldom writes with the countryside in mind as his principal theme,
but draws on, for instance, the rich symbolism of the rose and the worm to create a poem
that is symbolically suggestive and clearly about other things (sin, religion, shame, cruelty,
evil)

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

When the stars threw down their spears

And water’d heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright,

In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Meaning

The title of the poem showcases the central figure which is a tiger, spelled as “Tyger”. Blake
uses the archaic spelling of the term for presenting the world just after God created it.

The poem presents the amazement of the speaker about the creation of a fiery tiger. It also
illustrates the significance of God’s power and the existence of the divine will.

“The Tyger” “As a Representative of Wonder”: As this poem is about the creation of tiger,
the writer expresses that everything present in the universe reflects the image of its creator
despite their cruel nature.

Stanza One

Tyger, Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry

The initial verse refers to ‘The Tyger,’ imploring about its beauty and creator. As the poem
leads on gradually, the poem clearly makes it a point to discuss God as an entity as opposed
to the tiger. William Blake champions metaphors as the first one is ‘burning bright,’ which
refers to the tiger’s bright yellow fur, as it roams freely in the forest night.

The central question, as the reader slowly realizes, pertains existence of God. Slowly,
William Blake attacks the Christian God as he asks whether a divine entity is capable of
creating such a mesmerizing creature with perfection definitions and extraordinaire beauty.
Whether he deems, God impotent of creating such a four-legged creature is left open-ended
to the reader.

Stanza Two:

In what distant deep or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

The poet’s fascination with “Tyger” ever increases as he seems mesmerized with his fiery
eyes. He feels that the fire in his eyes came from a distant heavenly body such as hell/
heaven. The poet adds to the fiery image of the tiger by using the metaphor of burning from
the first verse. The third line throws the reader off track. William Blake is slowly coming to
the point of his argument, God.

The poet resonates with the point that the creature reflects its creator. The poet
furthermore creates a more supernatural image using the words of ‘hand,’ ‘wings,’ and fire,
relating to the divine being. These words have been reiterated from above. The term ‘daring’
is introduced, which is reverberated in the latter stanza

Stanza Three

And what shoulder, and what art

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when they heart began to beat,

What dead hand? And what dread feet?

The poet in this stanza discusses the physical characteristics of the almighty creator,
contemplating his various physical features. The lines are lost in translation as the poet
wonders in-depth about God’s physical attributes, which could also be an allegory to the
tiger’s characteristics.

Stanza Four

What the hammer? What’s the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dead grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp

This stanza questions the steps involved in the creation of the all-mighty jungle creature, the
tiger. An allegorical reference to a blacksmith, he hypothesizes some intelligent creator
developing his creation akin to a blacksmith as he cuts, hammers and forms metal after
considerable toil. The stanza is steeped in rhythmic poetry, adding flair and color. As
apparent, the poet is getting impatient and embarks on questioning the faith and its overalls

Stanza Five

When the stars threw down their spears,

And watered heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the lamb make thee?

These are the ‘Christian’ verses of the poem. The first line clearly indicates the demotion of
God’s arch-angel ‘Satan’ as a sign of rebellion against God’s will. It’s also a veiled reference
to the epic poem ‘Paradise Lost’ by John Milton. (Explore more John Milton poems.)

He refers to the all-mighty creator looking with reverence at his finalized creation. This
stanza is purely Christian by all means. The lamb can dually mean ‘the lamb of god’ or lamb
from his poem ‘The Lamb’. The former is an open reference to Jesus Christ (the Lamb of
God), sent by God on earth to atone for the sins of mankind

Stanza Six

Tyger Tyger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry

The last stanza is the repetition of the first as a chorus. Albeit, the word ‘could’ has been
replaced by ‘dare’ by the poet. The poet in this section attempts to question the creator’s
ability. The poet embarks on challenging the ability of his creator to creating this mighty
creature.

Major Themes in “The Tyger”:

'Wonder' and 'good versus evil' , 'creation and origin'are the major themes of the
poem. The writer has used visual imagery coupled with other literary elements to
incorporate these themes in the text. Throughout the poem, the speaker shows a
 sense of awe and wonder about the creation of the tiger. While observing the
astounding symmetry of the tiger, he fails to understand how the same God who
created the gentle lamb could also make the vicious Tiger. However, the poem
reflects that humans cannot understand the supremacy of God’s and his work.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “The Tyger”

literary devices are tools that enable the writers to present their ideas, emotions, and
feelings with the use of these devices. Blake has also used literary devices in this poem to
show the fearsome and yet magnificent image of a tiger. The analysis of some of the literary
devices used in this poem has been analyzed below.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the
sound of/i/ in “Tyger Tyger, burning bright” and /ae/ sound in “Dare its deadly
terrors clasp!”

Metaphor: It is a figure of speech used to compare two objects or persons different

in nature. There are two metaphors in the poem. The first is used in the second line,
“In the forests of the night” he compares tiger with darkness and repression. The
second is used in the sixth line, “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” he compares its eyes
with fire or something evil.

Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical Question is a question that is not asked to receive

an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. Blake has used a series of
questions in this poem to emphasize his point such as given below:

“What the hammer? what the chain,

In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.”

Personification: Personification is to attribute human qualities to inanimate things.

Blake has used personification in the fifth stanza where he considers stars as
humans,

“When the stars threw down their spears

And water’d heaven with their tears:”

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such
as the sound of /t/ and /b/ in “Tyger Tyger, burning bright” and the sound of /f/ in
“Dare frame thy fearful symmetry”.

Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a device used to call somebody from far. The poet has
used this device in the first line, “Tyger Tyger, burning bright.”

Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them
symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. “The Tyger”
represents the evil and beauty too, “the forest of the night” represents unknown
challenges, “the blacksmith” represents the creator and “the fearful symmetry”
symbolizes the existence of both good and evil.
 Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses.
Blake has used imagery to show the unique creation of God such as, “What immortal
hand or eye,”, “Burnt the fire of thine eyes?” and “In the forests of the night.”
The literary
poem simpleanalysis
to understand.
shows that Blake has skillfully employed these devices to make the

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “The Tyger”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the
analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are six stanzas in this poem
with each stanza having four lines in it.

Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here,

each stanza is quatrain as the first one or the second one.

Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme followed in the entire poem is AABB.

End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. End rhyme occurs
within the second and third lines and again within the second and fourth lines. The
rhyming words are, “bright”, “night”, “skies” and “eyes.”

Repetition: There is a repetition of the phrase, “Tyger Tyger burning bright”, which
has created a musical quality in the poem.

Refrain: The words that are repeated at some distance in the poem are
called refrain. The phrase, “Tyger Tyger burning bright” is repeated with the same
words, it has become a refrain as it has been repeated in first and last stanza.
 To Autumn
By
John Keats

Biography of the poet :

John Keats (born October 31, 1795, London, England—died February 23,
1821, Rome, Papal States [Italy]) was an English Romantic lyric poet who devoted his
short life to the perfection of a poetry marked by vivid imagery, great sensuous
appeal, and an attempt to express a philosophy through classical legend.
All his greatest poetry was written in a single year, 1819: “Lamia,” “The Eve of St.
Agnes,” the great odes (“On Indolence,” “On a Grecian Urn,” “To Psyche,” “To a
Nightingale,” “On Melancholy,” and “To Autumn”)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’erbrimm’d their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Aye, where are they?

Think not of them, — thou hast thy music too,
While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

In To Autumn, John Keats paints three perfect autumnal landscapes in three

powerful stanzas. He also highlights the impact on the senses which occur to the
patient observer. The poem is written in a highly formal pattern and combines
rich imagery with clever use of personification.
The speaker addresses autumn directly and personifies it as a woman. The poem
moves from the early stages of autumn to the coming of winter. It includes detailed
descriptions of different aspects of the season which is seen as beautiful and full of
natural wonder.
Keats composed this poem after a countryside walk and was excited and moved by
what he saw. He has clearly captured the sights, sounds and smells that he
experienced here. However, the speaker’s attitude throughout the poem gradually
and subtly changes. At the start he is full of joy and wonder at the natural world as
he describes the rich abundance that nature offers. By the time he reaches the third
stanza there is a shift in his perspective. He becomes more reflective
and melancholy as he considers what the passing of time actually means both to
himself and humans in general.

Theme Evidence Analysis

The closing section of
the poem is alive with
The natural world: the noises that
unsurprisingly, in a poem various birds and
about autumn there are insects make,
references made to fruits, ‘Hedge-crickets sing, and now reminding the reader
vegetables, flowers, trees and with treble soft/ The that though the year
other vegetation. Animals are redbreast whistles from a may be drawing to a
represented by various birds, garden-croft;/ And gathering close, life still goes
insects and 'full-grown lambs'. swallows twitter in the skies’ on.
Ripeness: autumn is seen as a The active verbs
time when the fruit is ready (‘swell’ and ‘plump’)
for picking and the grain for emphasise that
harvesting. It is a time to ‘To swell the gourd, and plump everything is at its
prepare for the onset of the hazel shells/ With a sweet best and ready for
winter. kernel’ mankind’s use.
Time passing: as well as the The coming of
seasons themselves, direct or ‘While barrèd clouds bloom the twilight highlights the
indirect reference is made to soft-dying day’ passing of another
 Theme Evidence Analysis
the passing of days, hours and day. In the same way
to whole lives. the speaker’s life
continues to head
towards death.
 The Man He Killed
By
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, the world’s predominating novelist and poet, was born on June 2,
1948, in Dorset, England. He inherited the love for reading and books from his
mother. He spent his early life in a rural atmosphere that has an influence on the
subject matters of his novels. His first novel was The Poor Man and the Lady. Other
important works include Jude the obscure (novel), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (novel).
The Dynast and the Winter Words are the two volumes of his poetry and short stories
appeared in 1903-08 and 1928, respective. He died on 11 January 1928 and was
buried in Westminster Abbey in the poet’s corner.

“Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

“But ranged as infantry,

And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

“I shot him dead because —

Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That’s clear enough; although

“He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,

Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.

“Yes; quaint and curious war is!

You shoot a fellow down
You’d treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.”

SUMMARY OF THE POEM

The Man He Killed, by Thomas Hardy, is a dramatic monologue in the speech of a

returned soldier. This poem is written during the 2nd Boer Wars (1899- 1902). The
poem describes the ridiculous status quo of war and the shrinking, diminishing
devoted intentions of the soldiers that meet each other in the theater of war.
In the poem, Hardy puts himself in the perspective of a common people and asks
bigger questions regarding the purpose of the war in general except destruction and
loss.

The speaker in the poem begins by memorizing a time when he shot a man in a war
for the safety of his country or infantry. He, then, imagine a situation and realizes that
what if they had encountered each other in an inn instead of on the front line? The
speaker says that they could have had an impressive old time.

Furthermore, the narrator illustrates in what way he murdered the fellow and tries to
clarify his action. He sees the man as his enemy, the image establishes by the
battlefield, looking at each other from opposite sides. The speaker, after a long
thought, mentions one reason for killing the man. He says that he killed a man
because he was his foe; however, he is not able to explain why the soldier is his
enemy.

The poem beautifully and implicitly illustrates the class difference in the society. The
speaker mentions that he shot the man because he came to the front line either to
shot other or to be shot by others. According to the speaker, all those who are
fighting on the front line is not because of their love for the infantry, but some of them
are here to earn money. They belong to the lower class of society and to earn the
bread, they have to go on deadly front lines in the war.

The speaker speaks of the cruelty of the war that one has to shot a person, whom he
is supposed to share a drink or help him out when there is a financial crisis. The
adults announce the war, and it is youth who suffers.

THEMES OF THE MAN HE KILLED

WARFARE:

The poem is not an average war poem but a straight outbreak of the worship of war.
There is no magnificent oversimplification of war in the poem regarding grandeur,
martyr and battle scenes. The poem concentrates on the negative aspects of war.
The speaker speaks of the cruelty of the war that one has to shot a person, whom he
is supposed to share a drink or help him out when there is a financial crisis. The
adults announce the war, and it is youth who suffers.

GUILT:

After returning from the war, the speaker is hunted by the thought of the war
especially killing of the innocent people who came on the front line just to earn some
money for their family. In the poem, the guilt seems to be evident when the speaker
tries to explain why he killed a man. The speaker didn’t satisfy with the explanation
claims in more guilt that he killed a man who is just like himself.

CLASS DIFFERENCE AND SOCIETY:

It is often thought that everyone on the battlefield is equal; everyone has to face the
same consequences, but this is not a fact. The speaker, being poor is enlisted as an
infantryman for the frontline, who is supposed to take orders from the superior
authority. It is the richer one, the authoritative one who commences while only the
war and the poor one suffers. This shows the class difference in our society. The
speaker wonders when will this end.

THE MAN HE KILLED LITERARY ANALYSIS

STANZA 1:

The speaker in the poem, The Man He Killed, begin by narrating the story of an
unnamed man that he killed on the frontline during in face to face encounter. The
speaker, in the first stanza, wonders what would be the condition if they met in
different, normal circumstances. For instance, in the inn or bar and would share
some drink.

The systematic pattern of the rhyme and the iambic rhythm in the stanza suggests
that the speaker/ narrator is being controlled by his emotions and feelings. The
speaker produces the welcoming and acquainted picture of a bar to propose that if
he and his target had “met” around, they would sit down and share a drink. The
picture of a bar, illustrated by the speaker, appeals to the reader’s sense of sight,
taste and hearing, and discloses that a speaker is a friendly man, who enjoys the
company of others.

STANZA 2:

The speaker unveils the unnamed person that he killed in this stanza. The unnamed
person is a soldier of the opposite camp in a war that they fought against. Both the
speaker and the other man are infantrymen enlisted on the frontline in the war and
are supposed to take orders from the authority. Both of them came face to face in an
encounter and shot each other, however, it is the other soldier who died.

The speaker starts the second stanza with a “but” which make readers curious about
the contrast of the following setting and actions of the poem. The speaker says that
instead of sitting together in a bar, the speaker and the other soldier (his victim) are
“ranged as infantry”. It is because of the battlefield that makes them enemies or else
they would be good friends sitting together in an inn.

The speaker illustrates an unfriendly action when he says “I shot him” instead of
sharing a cup of tea. Now the speaker thinks that he become a killer as he fulfilled
his responsibility as an infantryman.

STANZA 3:

In this stanza, the speaker tries to justify and explain his act of killing the man on the
battlefield. He justifies his action by calling him his enemy, an enemy created by a
battlefield; however, he is not confident in explaining that why the man was his
enemy.

The speaker’s thoughts and actions are marked by long pause and repetition when
he tries to justify and explain his action of killing a man. The dash (-) used by speaker
after ‘because’ creates uncertainty and proposes that his mind is in search of words
to explain his action. In order to convince himself, the speaker, two times, speaks
that his victim was his enemy.

STANZA 4:
In this stanza, the narrator mentions the reason what would make his victim fight on
the frontline. He says that the other man, like him, must be out of work and “sold his
traps”. The speaker’s guilt increases when he recognizes that the soldier he killed is
just another person like him who is unemployed and in terrible need of money.

The speaker tries to deal with his movement of thoughts with the recurrent and
substantial feelings of guilt at the remembrance of his deed. He realizes that he and
his victim both are of the same kind of people, very much comparable in making their
lives. We see the change of rhythm in the poem.

STANZA 5:

In this stanza, the speaker speaks of curious and quaint nature of war. The speaker
mentions that he shot the man because he came to the frontline either to shot other
or to be shot by others. While in other circumstances, they would sit together in a bar
and would have shared a drink.

The speaker begins the stanza with exclamation “yes” which shows that he has
gained some insight into the events that led him to kill another man. He realizes that
it is the war that makes you an enemy of an unknown person who, in other place and
time, would be friends that one would ‘treat’ or ‘help’. The speaker appears to have
engrossed the guilt when he realizes that war is a real killer. The speech becomes
again more rhythmic and regular in this stanza.

RHYMING SCHEME:

The man He Killed is a five-stanza poem by Thomas Hardy having a rhyming

Scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, ghgh, ijij.

SPEAKER:

The poem is the 1st person narrative in which the speaker/ narrator is a soldier who
has returned from a war as a survivor. The narrator explains his haunted thoughts
about killing a man in the war.

SETTING:

The Man He Killed is one of the Hardy’s famous poem that he wrote after the Boer
wars. The setting of the poem is a battlefield where the speaker meets an unknown
person for the first time and he killed that unknown person because he was his
enemy created by the battlefield.

STRUCTURE ANALYSIS:

This poem is a dramatic monologue written in ballad form in the speech of a returned
soldier. The poem consists of 5 stanzas each having four lines with regular rhyme.
There are six syllables in every line of each stanza except the 3rd line of stanza which
consists of eight syllables.

FIGURES OF SPEECHES:

Following are the figures of speeches in the poem The Man He Killed:
 Alliteration:

To create rhyme and rhythm in the poem, the poet uses alliteration. For instance

1. Had he and I but met.

2. I shot at him as he at me.
3. Or help to half-a-crown.

Simile:

The poet uses simile in the following line to draw an explicit comparison:

But ranged as infantry,

And staring face to face.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Robert Frost:

Robert Frost was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He is a celebrated American
poet. He had a great mastery of American colloquial speech and made realistic depictions of
the early rural life. His great work in poetry mostly included settings from the rural life in
New England in early 20th century. He used poems to examine complex philosophical and
social themes. During his life, individuals honored and at many times quoted him due to his
work and he also received four Pulitzer prizes.

His most famous poems are " the Road not taken" , a Boy's Will" and Stopping by Woods.

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Summary of the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Popularity: Written by Robert Frost, this poem was published in 1923. It was written to
capture the conflict between man and nature and also to highlight the difference between
wishes and obligations we face in our lives. However, it has become one of the most popular
poems in English literature.
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Major themes in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”: The poem comprises the
thoughts of an adult, why he stops and why he wants to stay in the lap of nature, forgetting
all his worldly affairs. The traveler wants to take a moment to pause in the quiet woods to
watch the snow falling. He says he knows whose woods are these, but he is sure the owner
of the woods will not notice his presence because he is in the village.

He is tempted to stay longer, but the pull of obligations and considerable distance force him
to leave the woods. As he says that he has to travel a lot, it means he has to perform a lot of
duties. Therefore, he puts his wishes aside and starts his journey again. This poem is about
the boundaries and limits in which human beings pass their lives, and which do not allow
them to get derailed from their respective paths.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Seemingly simple, this poem by Robert Frost is loaded with meanings on account of the use
of the following literary devices.

1. Metaphor: The poem doesn’t have any metaphors. However, there are
two extended metaphors in the poem. The last line of the third stanza, “sweep of
easy wind and downy flake” and the second metaphor is used in the last line
with repetition, “and miles to go before I sleep.” Here, miles represent life’s journey,
while sleep represents death.
2. Personification: Robert Frost has personified the thinking of the horse mildly in the
second stanza when it stops, and in the third stanza he gives a sign to the rider. “He
gives his harness bells a shake/ to ask if there is some mistake.” It shows as if the
horse is a human being who understands his owner’s needs or inquires if they
have to stop.
3. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers feel things through their five senses. The
poet has used the images for the sense of sights such as woods, house, lake, and
These images help readers see the woods a source of solace and comfort to a lonely
traveler.
4. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same
lines such as the consistent use of /w/, /wh/ and /s/ sounds. The
following phrases are examples of alliteration from the poem: “watch his woods”,
“sound’s the sweep”, “His house”.
5. Assonance: Assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line such as
the sounds of /e/ and /i/ come in quick succession in “he will not see me stopping”
and in “he gives his harness bells a shake.”
6. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as /w/ and /th/
sounds in “Whose woods are these I think I know” and /w/ sound in “to watch his
woods fill up with snow.”
7. Euphony: It refers to the sound that is pleasing to the ears. While the journey
through the forest is of the loneliness, according to Robert Frost woods are not
haunting or even scary but provides comfort and calmness. The woods also
represents an uncorrupted world that the traveler wishes to stay. Therefore, it
is euphony.

Concluding the analysis, it can be stated that Frost has beautifully used various literary
devices to make his poem a great piece of literature.

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Although most of the poetic devices are part of literary devices, yet some devices are only
used in poems. The analysis of some of the major poetic devices used in this poem is given
here.

1. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of a different number of lines. It could be three or

four lines. Here, a stanza comprises four lines each.
 2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza taken from Persian poetry. In this poem,
each stanza is also a quatrain though the rhyme scheme is a bit different.
3. Rhyme Scheme: The whole poem follows the AABA rhyme scheme. Frost has
used end rhyme in every first, second and fourth line of the poem. The third line of
each stanza rhymes with the next stanza. Such as, “know”, “though” and “snow”
rhymes with each other in the first stanza and” here” rhymes with “near” in the
second stanza.
4. Trochee: Trochee is the use of one stressed and one unstressed syllable in a single
line as given below in the next poetic device.
5. Stressed and Unstressed Syllables: These two types of syllables are used in trochee
such as the first is stressed and the second is unstressed syllable in “Whose woods
these are I think I know,” and this pattern continues throughout the poem.
6. Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “and miles to go before I sleep” “and
miles to go before I sleep “which has created a musical quality in the poem.
7. Refrain: The lines that are repeated again at some distance in the poems are
called refrain. Therefore, the repetitions of the last two lines of the poem with same
words are also an example of the refrain.

This analysis shows that this poem, though, seems a simple and innocent composition,
points to the reality of making decisions in complex situations in order to fulfill our
responsibilities.
 The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Biography of Robert Frost

Robert Frost was an American poet. When he was young, Frost lived on a farm in New
England. It was there that he wrote some of his famous works. Frost's poems reflect a deep
appreciation of nature. The simplicity of his images (taken from everyday life) and his
language (which reflects the rhythms and vocabulary of ordinary speech) make his poems
accessible, while leading the reader to understand deeper truths. Robert Frost spent many
years in New England and was influenced by the beautiful natural surroundings. The poem is
set in the autumn woods and describes the yellow leaves of the trees and the dense
undergrowth. This is the type of countryside that Frost would have been familiar with.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Summary of “The Road Not Taken”

1. Popularity: This poem was Written by Robert Frost and was published in
1961 as the first poem in the collection, Mountain Interval. The poem, having
a perfect rhyme scheme, ‘ABAAB’ is an ambiguous poem that allows the
readers to think about choices they make in life. Robert Frost wrote this poem
for his friend Edward Thomas, as a joke. He considers it a very tricky poem.
2. The Road Not Taken as Nostalgic Commentary on Life Choices: This
poem is about life from the perspective of a young narrator who decides to
seize the day, and, as an individual, chooses the road “less traveled by.” The
expression of doubt runs in the poem from the first line until the last. The
 expression of uncertainty about choices and our natural tendency to surmise
about consequences we may have to face marks the central point of the poem.
However, what stays in the mind of the people is the philosophy of life and
the dilemma of making choices.
3. Major Themes of the Poem: The poem comprises uncertainty and perplexing
situation of the minds of people about what they may face when standing on
the verge of making choices. It is because life is full of choices, and the
choices we make, define the whole course of our lives. Similarly, the narrator
faces a situation during his travel. He finds two roads at a point where he has
to choose one and must abide by his choice. He thinks he may come back one
day to travel on the other road. However, he also has a feeling that his choice
will confront him with new adventures and challenges. Though there is some
regret over his choice, yet he realizes that the things he has encountered and
the places he has visited, because of this path, have made all the difference in
his life.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “The Road Not Taken”

The analysis of literary devices explains the hidden meanings of a literary text or a
poem. The use of literary devices is intended to bring richness and clarity to the text
with different meanings. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is also filled with
important undertones with the following literary devices.

1. Metaphor: There are many metaphors in the poem like road, fork in the road
and yellowwoods. The road in the poem is the metaphor of life, while the fork
on the road metaphorically represents the choices we make to determine the
course of our lives. Similarly, yellow woods are the metaphor of making
decisions during the hard times of a person’s life. These metaphors used in this
poem emphasize the importance of different decisions we make in different
situations and their impacts on our lives.
2. Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers feel things through their five
senses. The poet has used images of the sense of sights such as leaves, yellow
woods and these images help readers to actually perceive things they are
reading. The image of the road helps readers to visualize the road providing a
navigation route to the traveler.
3. Simile: A simile is a device used to compare things with familiar things to let
the readers know it easily. There is one simile used in the second stanza such
as “as just as fair”. It shows how the poet has linked the road less taken to the
easy way through life.
4. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds such as the sound of
/a/ and /o/ in quick succession in “though as far that the passing” and in
“Somewhere ages and ages hence.”
5. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as /d/ in
“two roads diverging in a yellow wood” and /t/ sound in “though as far as the
passing there.”
6. Personification: Robert Frost has personified road in the third line of the
second stanza. Here, it is stated “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” as if
the road is human, and that it wants to wear and tear.
 7. Parallelism: Parallelism is the use of a source of
words, phrases or sentences that have similar grammatical forms. Frost has
used Parallelism in the poem such as;

“And sorry I could not travel both”

“And be only one traveler long I stood”

“And looked down once as far as I could”

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Analysis of Poetic Devices in “The Road Not Taken”

Although most of the poetic devices are part of literary devices, some devices are only
used in poems. The analysis of some of the major poetic devices used in this poem is
given here.

 Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of a fixed number of lines. In this poem,

there are four stanzas with each stanza having five verses or lines.
 Quintain: A quintain is a five-lined stanza borrowed from Medieval French
Poetry. Here, each stanza is a quintain such as the first one or the second one.
 Rhyme Scheme: The whole poem follows ABAAB rhyme scheme. There are
four beats per line, employing iambic tetrameter. The rhymes in “The Road
Not Taken” are end rhymes which are also perfect rhymes.
 Trochee: Trochee means there is a one stressed and one unstressed syllable in
a line such as “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”
 Anapests: Anapests means there are two short or unstressed syllables
followed by one long or stressed syllable. The above example is also
an anapest.

This analysis shows that this poem, though, seems a simple and innocent composition,
points to the reality of making decisions in complex situations. The point
to remember is that the road has been emphasized in that it is the choice that makes
the road important for us. In other words, our preferences in life make us different
from others.
 Ballad of Birmingham

by Dudley Randall

The Poet:

Dudley Randall

He was born January 14, 1914 in Washington D.C. Dudley showed an interest in
poetry at age four, writing lyrics to the song “Maryland, my Maryland” which was
performed at a band concert in a Baltimore suburb. At age thirteen, Randall won a
sonnet writing contest, taking home the one dollar first place prize.

Randall’s own writings often explored racial and historical themes. He utilized ideas
and forms from traditional western traditional poetry but his work was also
influenced by the Harlem Renaissance writers. Randall’s writings were original,
unique and memorable. His poetry is characterized by simplicity, realism

He wrote a number of sonnet poems are found in his book, More to Remember.
Dudley Randall died August 5, 2000 in Southfield, Michigan.

"The Ballad of Birmingham, is his most famous poem is written in response to

the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in
which four girls were killed.[2

“Mother dear, may I go downtown

Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?”

“No, baby, no, you may not go,

For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren’t good for a little child.”

“But, mother, I won’t be alone.

Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free.”

“No, baby, no, you may not go,

For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children’s choir.”

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,

And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The Mother smiled to know her child

Was in the sacred place,
 But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,

Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,

Then lifted out a shoe.
“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?”

Summary of Ballad of Birmingham

 Popularity of “Ballad of Birmingham”: Dudley Randall, a distinguished

African American poet wrote “Ballad of Birmingham”. It is a lyrical ballad
known for the theme of losing a child to the violence. The poem was written
as a response to the 1963 bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Alabama. It was first published in 1965.
 “Ballad of Birmingham” As a Representative of Death: The poem
narrates the story of an African American daughter asking her mother’s
permission to participate in the Freedom March in the streets of Birmingham.
Her loving and fearful mother stops her from joining the march and sends her
to church. She believes her daughter would be safer there instead of the
streets. The mother hears an explosion and runs towards the church. She
tries to find her daughter in the rubble after seeing her shoes. The readers
can easily anticipate the ending of the poem. The daughter is killed in that
massive explosion, and she would have safer in the protest.
 Major Themes in “Ballad of Birmingham”: Mother’s love, death and fight
against racism are the major themes of this poem. The poem presents
a conflict between a daughter who wants to be part of the freedom march and
the mother who desires to protect her child from the dangers of protesting.
That is why she asks her daughter to spend time within the safe walls of the
church. But ironically, the safest place turned out to be a fateful area where
her daughter tragically dies.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Ballad of Birmingham”

1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five
senses. For example, “And march the streets of Birmingham”, “The mother
smiled to know her child” and “She raced through the streets of Birmingham.”
2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line.
For example, the sounds of /o/ and /a/ in “No, baby, no, you may not go.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same
line. For example, the sound of /s/ in “And clubs and hoses, guns and jails.”
4. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line
in quick succession. For example, the sound of /f/ in “For I fear those guns will
fire”, the sound of /w/ in “Her eyes grew wet and wild” and the sound /b/ in
“But, baby, where are you?”.
5. Symbolism: Symbolism means using symbols to signify ideas and qualities,
giving them symbolic meanings different from literal meanings. Here,
“Church” is the symbol of safety and religion and “white” symbolizes
innocence and purity.
6. Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in a way that their
intended meaning is different from the spoken or written meaning. This poem
is ironic because a church is usually thought of as a safe place, free from all
evils, but the explosion killed the child. It shows that her daughter would have
lived if the mother had let her join the freedom march.
7. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an
end at a line break; instead, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

“The mother smiled to know her child

Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.”

8. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made

between the objects different in nature. For example, “For the dogs are fierce
and wild”. Here ‘dogs’ are metaphors for the far-right groups trying to
suppress the American civil rights movement.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Ballad of Birmingham”

1. Ballad: A ballad is a poem that tells a story and is meant to be sung or

recited. “Ballad of Birmingham” is one of the famous ballads of the 19th
2. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are eight four-lined
stanzas in this poem.
3. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry.
Here, each stanza is quatrain.
4. Repetition The following lines are repeated in the second and fourth stanzas
of the poem which has created a musical quality in the poem. For example,
“No, baby, no, you may not go.”
5. Refrain: The line repeated at some distance in a poem is called a refrain. The
verse, No, baby, no, you may not go” is repeated with the same words.
Therefore, it has become a refrain in this ballad.
 Poetic Devices (Definitions with Examples) and Rhyme

Poetic Devices (Definitions with Examples)

Allegory: a story in which the characters, settings, and events stand for abstract or moral
concepts.
Example: The morality play “Everyman” deals with the death of a character that
represents himself and every human being.
Example: Pilgrim’s Progress: Garth telling Bellicent the tale of a youth who wanted to
climb a tree to get a golden egg laid by a royal eagle (a story told in symbols).

Alliteration: the repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Example: “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought / I summon up remembrance of
things past” (Shakespeare, “Sonnet 30”).

Allusion: reference to a statement, person, place, event, or thing that is known from literature,
history, religion, mythology, politics, sports, science, or popular culture.
Example: He had the patience of Job.

Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which the speaker directly addresses an absent or dead person,
an abstract quality, or something nonhuman as if it were present and capable of responding.
Example: “And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer / Before all temples th’ upright
heart and pure / Instruct me… (Milton, Paradise Lost).

Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds in
words that are close together.
Example: “My words like silent raindrops fell…” (Paul Simon, “Sounds of Silence”).
Example: “Thou foster child of silence and slow time” (John Keats, “Ode to a Grecian
Urn”).

Conceit: a fanciful and elaborate figure of speech that makes a surprising connection between
two seemingly dissimilar things.
Example: John Donne’s comparison of separated lovers to the legs of a compass.

Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds. This repetition is not limited to initial
consonant sounds.
Example: “…and high school girls with clear skin smiles…” (Janis Ian, “At 17”).

Dissonance (cacophony): a harsh, discordant combination of sounds. It is usually created by the

repetition of harsh consonant sounds.
Example: “…sheer plod makes plough down sillion / Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah
my dear, / Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion” (Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The
Windhover”).

Epigram: short, condensed, polished, pointed phrases often ending in surprising or witty turns of
thought.
Example: “Swans sing before they die – t’were no bad thing / Should certain people die
before they sing” (Coleridge, “On a Volunteer Singer”).
Clichéd example: “A stitch in time saves nine.” Clichés are worn out and overused, and
should be avoided.
 Poetic Devices (Definitions with Examples) and Rhyme
Page 2

Euphemism: a pleasant way of stating an unpleasant truth (usually to be avoided). The

euphemism is vague and less direct especially when used in reference to death, irreligious
references to God, and discreet references to body parts and functions.
Example: “Comfort station,” “to pass away,” “Gosh darn!” (Poets will avoid these!).

Irony: a contrast or discrepancy between expectation and reality – between what is said and what
is really meant, between what is expected and what really happens, or between what appears to be
true and what is really true.
Example: “Brutus is an honorable man” (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar).
Special Types of Irony
Antithesis: a contrasting of ideas made sharp by the use of words of opposite meaning in
contiguous clauses or phrases (next to one another) with grammatically parallel structure.
Aristotle praised antithesis in his Rhetoric “…because …it is by putting opposing
conclusions side by side that you refute one of them.”
Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your
country (John F. Kennedy).
Example: “Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike” (Pope).
Example: “Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasure” (Samuel
Johnson).

Hyperbole: a great exaggeration.

Example: She wept oceans of tears.

Oxymoron: a paradoxical utterance that combines two terms that in ordinary usage are
contraries, especially frequent in Petrarchan and Elizabethan love poetry (1590’s). Also
found in devotional prose or religious poetry as a way of expressing the Christian
mysteries.
Example: “Pleasing pains”; “loving hate”; “I burn and freeze” (Petrarchan and
Elizabethan love poetry).

Paradox: a statement which seems untrue but proves valid upon close inspection.
Example: “When my love swears that she is made of truth / I do believe her, though I
know that she lies” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 138).
Example: “I was much older then; I’m younger than that now” (Bob Dylan).
Example: “Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear” (Milton, Paradise Lost).

Understatement: deliberately representing something as less important than it really is.

Example: Twain’s apprentice riverboat pilot discovered asleep by the captain remarks
that the captain stands behind him, “commenting.”

Metaphor: a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two seemingly unlike things
without using the connective words like, as, than, or resembles.” Aristotle said that the greatest
thing by far [in speech or writing] is to be master of the metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot
be learned from others, and it is also a sign of genius since a good metaphor implies an intuitive
perception of the dissimilar (Poetics). Metaphor points out many resemblances: “He is a pig”
(appearances – eating, habits, size, etc.). Simile refers to only one characteristic that two things
have in common: “He eats like a pig.”
 Poetic Devices (Definitions with Examples) and Rhyme
Page 3

Types of Metaphor
Dead metaphor (to be avoided): common usage makes you forget that the two items
being compared are really separate items.
Example: “…leg of the table.” “…heart of the matter.”

Extended metaphor: this type of metaphor is developed over several lines of writing or
even throughout an entire poem.
Example: The morality play “Everyman” is a metaphor for each person’s life.

Implied metaphor (implicit metaphor):doesn’t use a linking verb, so one term of the
comparison is implied.
Example: Ordinary metaphor – “Hatred is an infection of the mind.
Implied metaphor – “Hatred infects the mind.” “The sun sheds its rays.”
“Bright character explodes the dawn.” “It’s raining pitchforks.” “O my love
has red petals and sharp thorns.” “O, I placed my love into a long stem vase
and bandaged my bleeding thumb.”

Kenning: in Anglo-Saxon poetry, a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to

name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly.
Example: “whale-road” for the sea and “Shepherd of evil” for Grendel (Beowulf).

Mixed metaphor (to be avoided): combines two or more diverse metaphors that do not
fit together logically.
Example: “To get ahead, a man should keep his nose to the grindstone, his shoulder to the
wheel, his ear to the ground, and his eyes on the ball.” “Playing with fire can get a person
in deep water.” “Her plans to paint the town red were nipped in the bud.” “Money doesn’t
grow on trees, but it does go down the drain quick.”

Metonymy: a closely associated idea used for the idea itself. The major effect is to communicate
through abstract, intangible terms the concrete and tangible.
Example: Calling the judiciary “the bench” or the king “the crown.”

Onomatopoeia: the use of a word whose sound imitates or suggests its meaning.
Example: The sparrow’s chirrup on the roof, / The slow clock ticking, and the sound /
Which to the wooing wind aloof / The poplar made, did all confound / Her sense…(Alfred, Lord
Tennyson, “Mariana”).
Personification: gives life to inanimate objects or makes animals human.
Example: Death stands above me whispering low.

Pun: a play on the multiple meanings of a word, or two different words that sound alike but have
different meanings.
Example: Cleopatra was the queen of denial as opposed to the Queen of the Nile.

Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part of a thing stands for the whole.
Example: “…lend a hand.”

Simile: an expressed comparison between two distinctly different things, especially using like or
as.
Example: “My love is like a red, red rose.”
 Poetic Devices (Definitions with Examples) and Rhyme
Page 4

Synaesthesia: the deliberate mixing of the senses.

Example: “I hear it in the deep heart’s core” (Yeats).
Example: “The listening eyes of the tall knights” (Tennyson).

Rhyme
Rhyme: the repetition of accented vowel sounds and all sounds following them in words that are
close together in a poem.
Example: The cat in the hat.

Approximate Rhyme (half rhymes, slant rhymes, or imperfect rhymes): words sound similar
but do not rhyme exactly. A slant rhyme calls attention to itself in a way that may occasionally
help the poet say something meaningful.
Example: “He who the ox to wrath has moved / Shall never be by woman loved” (Blake).
End rhyme (the most common form of rhyme): occurs at the ends of lines
Example:

Internal rhyme: occurs within lines.

Example: “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea” (Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner).

Masculine rhyme:
Example: “mail / quail”; “compare / affair.”

Rhythm: the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in language. In speech, it is the
natural rise and fall of the language.

Meter: a generally regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry.

Verse: metrical language. All verse is not poetry; all poetry is not verse.
Blank verse: poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter (five metrical feet per line,
each consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).
Free verse: poetry that has no regular meter or rhyme scheme.

Foot: the basic metrical unit which consists of one accented syllable plus one or two unaccented
syllables.
Kinds of feet: Iambic, Trochaic, Anapestic, Dactylic, and Spondaic.