The author Alden noman uses several poetic elements in his poem “The Execution”. The execution is a free verse poem this makes it more story-like as the poem has no rhyme or rhythm to it and the type of poem is narrative. The poem has 6 stanzas and 118 lines. There is alliteration, such as “we went” and “thought they”. The story is mostly the type of stanzas that contain 3 lines called tercet. Alden also uses symbolism in this poem take the reverend for example, who is a symbol of the church and the holy spirit, there is then the sheriff who represents the order of society and then there is the press who is the symbol of free speech. There is also imagery, but it's minor and that is “the lights were so bright”. There is also spondee in the …show more content…
Such as when they are leading press around and lead him into the wrong room, then eventually leading him out to be hung and put a hood over his head, press at this point is helpless and nothing can be done for him as there's a hood over his head, I mean no one is going to see you with a hood on your head… I mean it’s good to have hope at least. Then when he is lead to the podium and the hangman says “don’t make it any harder for us” and the poem ends its obvious that he is dead and his hopes weren’t successful. But Alden was trying to make the poem about this and how hundreds of innocent people especially press are executed in some countries just for violating laws such as ones meant to censor the media to make an illusion that their state of control is the normal thing around the world when it's not. Because if the citizens found out they would overthrow the government but why should they care there about the citizens their tyrants who want you to be there way and if you dare to expose them then it's on you after all aren't you just a number to them…. That’s all your ever be I mean isn’t that how most governments are anyways? Just desensitized to the citizens of their country and you become just a number and a dollar in their
Authors use many different types of imagery in order to better portray their point of view to a reader. This imagery can depict many different things and often enhances the reader’s ability to picture what is occurring in a literary work, and therefore is more able to connect to the writing. An example of imagery used to enhance the quality of a story can be found in Leyvik Yehoash’s poem “Lynching.” In this poem, the imagery that repeatably appears is related to the body of the person who was lynched, and the various ways to describe different parts of his person. The repetition of these description serves as a textual echo, and the variation in description over the course of the poem helps to portray the events that occurred and their importance from the author to the reader. The repeated anatomic imagery and vivid description of various body parts is a textual echo used by Leyvik Yehoash and helps make his poem more powerful and effective for the reader and expand on its message about the hardship for African Americans living
Examining the literary terms used in this poem, one should mention alliteration first. It is used in the following line: “There are those who suffer in plain sight, / there are those who suffer in private” (line 1-2). Another literary device,
One can either be innocent or guilty. Likewise, one can choose to either condemn or empathize with the accused. These binaries prove amply important throughout Sherman Alexie's 1996 poem entitled "Capital Punishment," in which a prison cook recounts the day of an inmate's execution. Throughout the poem, the speaker parenthetically inserts on five separate occasions the phrase "I am not a witness," but near the conclusion of the poem, he contradicts his previous denials, proclaiming, "I am a witness." Readers of the poem may at first be puzzled by the speaker's repeated denial that he is a witness followed by his eventual declaration that he is, in fact, a witness; however, further examination reveals that the speaker, by progressing from condemnation
In the poem “Auschwitz” by Charles N. Whittaker, the poet uses figurative language such, as end- rhymes and a metaphor to convey a theme about death and losing hope/faith. In the poem, Whittaker uses this phrase “and the blue ink slabs a little harder on the skin/ above the veins in despair where murder let in”(Stanza 3 lines 1-2). Here, Whittaker addresses how “skin” and “in” rhyme at the end of the rhymes. To infer more, end-rhymes occur in the rhyming of the words at the end of the two or more lines of poetry. This connects to the theme of death because the blue inks may represent the blood of all the prisoners who are dying. This illustrates how death is represented when saying “murder” and “veins”. Another example is the metaphor used
In the second stanza, the poet reveals that in the face of death, the criminal will still be unhappy, even though it is was he wanted all along. Line (7) of the poem, the poet means that hangings are a means of curing society, ridding it of pests (criminals).
The characters of the poem are also some very meaningful keys in showing the hidden meaning. The first stanza describes the crowd that has gathered to watch the enactment of our human lives. Lines three and four states "an angel throng, bewinged, and bedight in veils, and drowned in tears." Poe is stating that a group of angels is going to watch the spectacle put on for them, although they are already drowning in the tears from plays before. The orchestra that plays for them is another set of characters that have meaning. They represent the background in everyone's life by "playing the music of the spheres." A third set of characters that show hidden meaning is the "Mimes, in the form of God on high." They denote the people that inhabit the earth. Poe describes them as "Mere puppets they, who come and go at bidding of vast formless things." The vast formless things are the ideas that we have. Ideas like the things that we think we have to do for ourselves to survive and succeed. They also make up drama of the play. A final, prominent figure in this dramatic performance is the conqueror worm. Poe illustrates it as "a blood-red thing.
The first literary device that can be found throughout the poem is couplet, which is when two lines in a stanza rhyme successfully. For instance, lines 1-2 state, “At midnight, in the month of June / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” This is evidence that couplet is being used as both June and moon rhyme, which can suggest that these details are important, thus leading the reader to become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and actions. Another example of this device can be found in lines 16-17, “All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies / (Her casement open to the skies).” These lines not only successfully rhyme, but they also describe a woman who
Stanzas one and two of the poem are full of imagery. The first stanza sets the scene for the poem “in a kingdom by the sea” (Poe 609) which makes you feel as if the story is going to have a “romantic” (Overview) feel to it. Then Annabel Lee comes into the story with “no other thought than to love and be loved by me” (Poe 609); This sentence is full of imagery in the sense that it makes you feel the immense capacity of love Annabel Lee had for the speaker if that was her only thought. In the second stanza the imagery takes a turn that shifts from loving and inviting to pain; The love between Annabel and the speaker was so strong that
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
The poems that most interested me are written by Robert Frost; Fire and Ice, Nothing Gold Can Stay, and Design. In these poem Frost uses the literary such as symbolism and rhyme scheme. Symbolism is used to provide the reader with a meaning other than the literary meaning of object or idea. Rhyme scheme is used to help the reader read and understand the poem. By using these two literary devices and more Frost has achieved many awards for his work.
Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem.
Auden could be writing about the death of a public figure, as he writes about 'white necks of the public doves' and the 'traffic policemen'.
Through alliteration and imagery, Coleridge turns the words of the poem into a system of symbols that become unfixed to the reader. Coleridge uses alliteration throughout the poem, in which the reader “hovers” between imagination and reality. As the reader moves through the poem, they feel as if they are traveling along a river, “five miles meandering with a mazy motion” (25). The words become a symbol of a slow moving river and as the reader travels along the river, they are also traveling through each stanza. This creates a scene that the viewer can turn words into symbols while in reality they are just reading text. Coleridge is also able to illustrate a suspension of the mind through imagery; done so by producing images that are unfixed to the r...
These lines establish the mood and theme that Auden was eluding to in the poem of fear, anger, and pain. This also translates to the poems tone of anger and distrust of the the 1930’s socialist schemes that failed to prevent another war. From Luther until now/ That has driven a culture mad/ Find what occurred at Linz,/ What a huge imago made” (line 14-17).
Observations: Upon first glance, many literary elements popped out at me. To begin, it was obvious that, in typical Dickinson fashion, there were many dashes. These dashes are used to indicate an interruption or abrupt shift in thought and to add emphasis. More importantly, they are there to remind the reader to stop and take a longer pause to reflect back on what was trying to be said at that point within the poem. These dashes, from simply looking at the poem, also interrupt the rhythmic flow and help lend a hand in helping Dickinson create a unique form of diction. Alliteration is also a key element throughout this poem as there are many ‘s’, ‘w’, and ‘f’ sounds. For example, there is line within the poem that says, “When One died for Truth, was lain…” With this, there is a continuous “w” sound rolling off of the tongue. Assonance is also noticed throughout the poem in that Dickinson uses ‘oo’ sounds with the words beauty, tomb, who, truth, and room. In terms of rhyme and meter, the poem is set with a fixed rhyme pattern that took the form of ABCB. There are also many moments throughout the poem in which words are randomly capitalized. Although they look as if they were capitalized sporadically and without thought, these words were written this way to place emphasis upon the meaning of the words and the messages behind them. The structure of this poem (and most of Dickinson’s poems for that matter) is a closed or fixed form dealing with four line stanzas, or quatrains. Figures of speech used, just by observing the poem, were metaphors, personification, and metonymy. For example, this whole poem focuses on death and truth – two things that are ‘intangible’ objects without life to them. Yet, Dickinson portrays them in a way in wh...