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Poetic devices and figurative language
Poetic devices and figurative language
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Recommended: Poetic devices and figurative language
Do you know your fate? William Henley sure did. William reminds us that we are the captain of our soul, and that we have a choice to either live in pain or be brave in trying times. The theme of Invictus is being brave in the middle of darkness, and standing strong throughout trials and tribulations, while not being afraid of whatever happens in the end.
Invictus is a very simple and powerful poem. From the very beginning William grabs reader’s attention with his metaphors, personification and imagery. The speaker starts off describing the pain and suffering that he is experiencing in the first stanza. Capturing the attention of readers with phrases such as “out of the night that covers me,” and “black as the pit from pole to pole”. These phrases are excellent examples of how he feels during this time. Comparing his suffering to the night, using it to metaphorically represent the suffering and pain that the speaker is feeling. You begin to visualize how dark it gets when
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Standing tall during trials and tribulations and fighting his battles in private, he continues to fight without showing an ounce of second thought or withdrawal. “In the fell clutch of circumstance,” the speaker does not show his pain or hurt with action. He takes the beating without backing down or crying aloud. Keeping his head up, he tells us in the last line of stanza two that, “My head is bloody, but unbowed.” He refuses to be defeated. This line provides imagery of just how bad the speaker feels on the inside. Readers begin to picture how broken and hurt the speaker must feel, while at the same time seeing how brave and strong he is for not giving up. Encouraging readers to reflect upon their own problems and inspiring them not to throw in the towel when things get rough. You begin to connect with the speaker and relate your own “bludgeonings of chance” to his, while identifying with
The second strong line is: “And it was hate and rage towards abusive teachers that kept me going year after year…with the hope that one day I’d get published, and have a voice, so I could make difference down here in our hearts, and guts,” I said, grabbing hold of my own gut, “where we really live, if we’ve going to live a life worth living!” This strong line made me feel like Victor Villasenor have been through many abusive, bullied, from teachers and friends. However, he created hope in his life to motivate what he loves to do and defending himself through passion
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
Invictus has faced adversity and affliction first hand, however neither, have deterred him from succeeding, “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul” (Henley 15-16). Invictus does not necessarily have control of what happens to him in life, but he can determine the way in which he lives his life. Despite the cruel circumstances he faces, Invictus always returns to faith in himself. With his unconquerable soul, he remains positive and perseveres. He is victorious through his own life as he is persistent amongst all the adversity. Likewise, Equality illustrates a sense of tenacity, as he strives to create a new society. Equality finds the purpose for his existence, not in humanity but in himself and in each individual man, “I am. I think. I will” (Rand 94). Although Equality faced great tribulation, he remains confident in his pursuit for a better life and society. Despite powerful pressure from society to conform, he did not betray the values which he deems important. He accepts damnation from his fellow citizens, rather than surrender to them his light and his mind. Equality did not surrender his creative work no matter the degree or variety of difficulties he encounters. This persistence is a measure of his integrity, he lives by his convictions regardless of the obstacles that confront him. Both Invictus and Equality possess determination as in spite of the difficulty faced, they persisted their goals and
In many parts of the poem, Guest uses metaphors to show the strength that one should always keep while facing their troubles. He tells his readers to "Lift your chin and square your shoulders, plant your feet and take a brace" to prepare for whatever could be ahead (lines 2-3). Even through the metaphor "Black may be the clouds above you" which gives a clear perception of difficult and hopeless moments that might be surrounding an individual, it is still better than running since it "will not save you" (lines 8-11). It is throughout the poem that Guest has used many metaphors to remind his readers about the facing the problems that will lie ahead. It is even pointed at points, such as, "You may fail, but fall fighting" to remind the reader that not all problems can be confronted. However, the author suggests that with a person's body language, like standing tall, could become a resolve. With these metaphorical commands, it gives the reader the feeling of a solider or fighter that is preparing to face an enemy. This is also further emphasized from his use of repetition. Guest repeats the figurative phrase, "See it through" to show the reader to overcome the toughest or most hopeless of problems. It is also from this statement that he suggests to go keep going no matter what since in the end it is possible that one can succeed. Becoming the clearest and most encouraging phrase and title of the poem, Guest has made the distinction of his theme to overcome everything that one can in order to achieve the best for one's
... is the most important line in the poem. I think the author used personification here to make the image clearer to the reader, and help them make the connection from the line to life. The line gives the idea that the author has had to overcome his own struggles in life, and is describing how it felt in this poem.
The narrator is presented as this strong figure at first, but the piece tears away this wall brick by brick. In stanza six when they are coming back from Mexico, the narrator says the drugs “might help him live longer.” The biggest turn of hopelessness is in stanza 8 for the narrator. His brother falls into a coma and his brother’s lover cries in his arms and he “Wonder(s) how much longer you will be able to be strong.”(Lassell 481) It only progresses only further when the narrator says: “Offer God anything to bring your brother back. Know you have nothing God could possibly want.”(Lassell 481) The narrator becomes almost emotionless during the funeral of his brother, and it shows that this sense of hopelessness has grown even larger, to the fact where he stands in silence and stares at the casket. During the funeral, he thinks to himself “Know that your brother 's life was not what you imagined.”(Lassell
In the first stanza we are captivated by hope, because it “dangles on a string” before us, not quite in our grasp, because even though we are aware of it, we do not fully have a handle on what it means to be hopeful (1). This is then said to be like “slow-spinning redemption” (2). Again, this is because we do not fully appreciate redemption. We can see it before us, in many different lights, hence spinning, but we do not really understand what makes redemption what it is. Because we do not comprehend the concepts of hope and redemption they “rope us in” and “mesmerize” us (5, 6). We spend a lot of time in our youth...
Even with his prayer, and his wine-induced courage, the speaker still despairs. He compares himself to “the poor jerk who wanders out on air and then looks down” and “below his feet, he sees eternity,” when he realizes that “suddenly his shoes no longer work on nothingness” (5.12-15). It is as though he is submitting to the reality that, if he steps beyond the safe borders of the proven approaches to writing, there is no magic potion that will guarantee his success. Nevertheless, he appears to be willing to take his chances, and, ironically, he does so with this prayer, which is stylistically unconventional. In a desperate attempt to remind his readers that he was once considered a good writer in the event that this poem does not meet their traditional standards, he makes one final request: “As I fall past, remember me” (5.16).
El Cid and the Christians in The Poem of the Cid display crusader-like qualities, which band them together against their enemies as they pursue honor, glory, and faith.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
Though the way it relates to people in the 19th century and the way it relates to the modern world greatly differs, the symbolism in the poem and shift in tone throughout it shows a great appeal to human nature, and how desperate one can be to change it. The symbolism in the poem paints a ghastly picture of a man’s life, falling apart as he does his best, and worst, to keep it safe from himself. In lines 1 through 8 (stanza one), he gives a brief description of an incident in his life where things have gone wrong. “When the tiger approaches can the fast-fleeting hind/Repose trust in his footsteps of air?/No! Abandoned, he sinks into a trance of despair,” He uses these lines to show the lack of control he has over his actions, how his will to change his circumstances has weakened.
He states, “as I came up along his side. I was sure now I’d at least exceed my best time.” Meanwhile, his opponent began to pick up his pace and sprint to the finish, “but the man with the famous final kick had already begun his move.” This pertains to how we need to approach challenges feeling self-assured even though we might not end up on top every time. All we need to do is focus on our own goals and finding ways to achieve them. These lines also imply that we need to push ourselves until the very end and never give up. The poem concludes with the speaker hearing a spectator say, “Beautiful,” as if something unavoidable was about to happen out of nowhere. This part of the poem is an excellent reminder that you should always expect the unexpected and never count anyone out. This stanza has a determined and admiring tone. We can see the determination when the speaker says, “I was sure now I’d at least exceed my best time” and the admiration when he says, “Beautiful, I heard a spectator say.”
Chaos and drudgery are common themes throughout the poem, displayed in its form; it is nearly iambic pentameter, but not every line fits the required pattern. This is significant because the poem’s imperfect formulation is Owen making a statement about formality, the poem breaks the typical form to show that everything is not functioning satisfactorily. The poem’s stanza’s also begin short, but become longer, like the speaker’s torment and his comrades movement away from the open fire. The rhyming scheme of ABABCDCD is one constant throughout the poem, but it serves to reinforce the nature of the cadence as the soldiers tread on. The war seems to drag on longer and longer for the speaker, and represents the prolonged suffering and agony of the soldier’s death that is described as the speaker dwells on this and is torn apart emotionally and distorts his impressions of what he experiences.
I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe...
The two roads presented in this poem represent difficult decisions we are faced with in life. He uses the relationship between the paths and real life decisions throughout the whole poem. This is an example of extended metaphor, which is used to help the readers understand the analogy between the two. The man in the poem said: “long I stood” (3), which lets us know the decision was not made instantly. It was hard for the man to make a final judgment.