Cowper employs the poetic device of personification by imbuing the nightingale and the glow-worm with human characteristics. They are depicted having a discussion and acting like humans. This device is useful because it gives us insight into the mind of the poet's guest.
Glow worms are insects that emit light when disturbed or agitated. They do so by using their abdominal segments as lamps, which they repeatedly flare up and extinguish by flicking their tails back and forth. Cowper may have been thinking of the glow worm (Luciola cruciata) when he wrote this line: "The glow-worm, on its toothed leafy bed/ Of rock or tree, emits each moment more/ Than can be seen with the eye alone." The insect lives in South America but is found in many other parts of the world too, especially in tropical regions.
Nightingales are birds that live in Europe and Asia but can be found everywhere in the world where there are trees full of fruit suitable for them to eat. They spend most of their time singing but will also talk if you listen carefully. It is believed that they tell us about their life experiences by using songs as words. This idea comes from an ancient Greek myth which says that this is what nightingales do all day long!
The following literary techniques appear in Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror":
Personification was the literary method utilized in the poem The Daffodils. The author William Wordsworth personifies the Daffodils as a figure in his poem The Daffodils, which gives him an excellent memory. He also personifies the waves of the lakes and other natural items in the landscape. This technique is used to suggest that everything is alive with consciousness.
Wordsworth uses this device to show that even though the daffodils only live for one season, they make everyone happy because they remind us how beautiful nature is. Also, by making the daffodils seem conscious, Wordsworth shows that we should respect all living things because they have feelings just like we do.
Another device used by Wordsworth is simile. Similes are comparisons using "like" or "as" to connect words with different meanings but that share a common trait. In this case, the phrase "daffodils / Are pure and innocent" is a simple comparison because it says that the daffodils are both pure and innocent. But the word "daffodils" can also be seen as a metaphor because it is comparing something small and delicate like daffodils to something big and powerful like waves. Words that are similar but different can be confusing at first so keep this in mind when reading poems.
Finally, imagery is when you describe a scene with specific words or phrases.
Literary or Poetic Devices in Poems: A Literary or Poetic Device is a method used by a writer to create a unique impression in their work. See Video Explanation of Literary Devices in Poems for more information.
| Alliteration | Metaphor |
|---|---|
| Anaphora | Oxymoron |
| Antithesis | personification |
| Assonance | Refrain |
| Asyndeton | Rhyme |
"She Walks in Beauty" employs literary tropes such as simile, metaphor, personification, contradiction, and visual imagery. These devices are used to enhance the beauty of the poem.
The poem begins with a simile that compares Lady Nature to a beautiful woman: "Nature is full of figures of speech, / Like those which the mind puts into her words; / She's like the meadows in their spring attire, / When many flowers beautify the ground." This simile describes nature as beautiful because she has many flowers that look nice when out in the field. Using this image, the poet wants us to know that even though Lady Nature may not smile often, when she does she spreads joy throughout those around her.
The metaphor compares Lady Nature's voice to a stream or river that has two effects on its listeners. First, it can be calming if you happen to be near a body of water when it sounds loud. Second, it can also be inspiring if you are by a pond or lake where it is quiet on most days.
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