The President's Ball Figurative Language

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In the poem “The President’s Ball,” Billie Jo describes her night at the dance held in the President’s honor. The poem is full of figurative language and sound devices that help build the mood. Hesse uses hyperboles such as “feet flying,” and “crazy excited” to amplify the effect of their merriment. The dancing in the poem is a metaphor for their freedom from the troubles of life. This is proven with the repetition of “almost free of [...].” The attitude of “The President’s Ball” is mainly nostalgic. Billie Jo is looking back on this night that she enjoyed herself at, but after the fact, she is melancholy about remembering the year before, when she played piano at the event and her mother was still alive. The poem begins with a merry tone,

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