Poetic Man

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Written by the great 13th-century Persian poet, "The Guest House" is a call for acceptance — one that is, unsurprisingly, often invoked in mindfulness circles. Rumi uses the metaphor of a guest house, likening it to the mind. Much like guests in a lodge, thoughts arrive in our head one after another— some making us happy, sad, and even uncomfortable. This poem serves as a reminder to not resist life’s painful thoughts, but to welcome them with warmth and good grace. 7. "from Milk and Honey", by Rupi Kaur

Examples of similes are Shakespeare’s “Her hair, like golden threads, play’d with her breath” and Langston Hughes’ “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” The word “like” in these examples is the hint that we’re looking at a simile, and not a metaphor. The most essential question of all begins the poem, in the form of the title. It’s not directly answered. Instead, a further question, related and perhaps even tougher, shoulders into the opening line “What is living?” The answer – “The broad hall found/ between narrow walls” – recalls the Venerable Bede’s image of human life as the flight of a sparrow across the mead hall. It’s a powerfully physical image, with no insistence on spiritual interpretation – a little Zen-like, perhaps. What makes a good soldier? What qualities are attendant in a “happy warrior”? These are the questions that William Wordsworth lays out in the opening line of one of his most famous poems, and then proceeds to answer in the lines that follow. A great warriordeftly finds balance between being eager for battle, and yet aching for the joys and pleasures of home. A great warrior is guided by an inner light of virtuosity and generosity. A great warrior knows that suffering contains purpose. While the words pertainparticularly to the soul of a soldier, its inspiration applies toevery man engaged inthe fight of life. Repetition is used both as a poetic device and as an aspect of story structure, particularly when dealing in motifs. In poetry, using the same word or phrase repeatedly allows the reader or listener to settle into a comfortable rhythm, offering them a sense of familiarity even if they’ve never heard that particular piece before. It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking...."Writers commonly use literary devices in poetry to help make their points memorable or their language more evocative. You’ve likely used poetic devices without thinking about it, but deliberate use can make your writing even stronger! Considering Longfellow’s long career as an educator, the optimistic nature of “The Builders” comes as no surprise. By calling everyone ‘an architect of Fate’, working in the ‘walls of Time’, he conveys that all humans have a meaningful impact on the world. Be it with ‘massive deeds’ or ‘ornaments of rhyme’, each and every person has a role to play. 18. "Life", by Charlotte Brontë War is hell” quipped William Tecumseh Sherman, and no generation understood this better than the boys thrown into the grinder of World War I. While Wilfred Owen’s “Dolce Et Decorum Est” also makes for necessary reading, Rupert Brooke’s poem about loss and remembrance in wartime marries youthful vigor with a cautious patriotism. Meditating on his own death and what he hopes it means for others, Brooke reminds us that countries aren’t composed of flags and anthems, but the people who serve and sacrifice their lives for the greater good. Hissoldier is “A body of England’s, breathing English air,” composed of and composing what England is . “The Soldier” is a heartfelt memorial to all of those who met danger with courage and should stir us to press forward — even at the highest cost. Compared to assonance, consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in a word or phrase. Repeated consonants can occur at the beginning, middle, or ending of a word. You may recognize this from classic children’s tongue twisters like “Betty Botter bought some butter but she said the butter’s bitter”… the repeated B’s and T’s add a jig-and-reel quality to the speech. A chiasmus (a word that brings to mind the word “chimera”, coincidentally enough) is a stylized literary device that plays with the reversal of words or ideas.

When Poe talks about alarm bells, he uses sharp, high-pitch vowels to echo their sound: notice the repetition of long “e” and “i” sounds, both of which sound a bit like screams. Oddballs and Angels: A Tribute to Phoebe Snow". www.literal-latte.com . Retrieved February 10, 2023.

11. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes

Don’t forget that poetic devices are good for more than just poetry. A well-written essay can use a great metaphor. A sonnet can be written in plain English for a great effect. An article for your school newspaper might be improved with a little alliteration. Feel free to experiment with how and when these devices are used—adding in an unexpected poetic device is a great way to elevate your writing. Written to his wife upon leaving for a trip abroad, Donne’s poem uses the literary concept of a “conceit,” an extended metaphor, to encourage his wife to see their momentary separation not as “A breach, but an expansion” of their love. Donne describes their relationship in terms of a drawing compass, her being the arm that is fixed in place and his as the arm extended outward, yet still connected. Donne’s masterful use of the English language, blended with emotional longing, makes “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” one of the greatest love songs ever penned. Donne’s work is an excellent poem to read with your spouse or significant other. Reading widely in a variety of literary forms—poetry, prose, essays, non-fiction, and so on—is one of the best ways to learn more poetic devices. You may not notice them all, but challenge yourself to find one example of a poetic device every time you read. Remember, there are lots of kinds of poetic devices; they don’t always have to be things you’d only find in poetry. Myths and legends are perhaps the greatest reservoir of creativity the poet has at their disposal. Though often used interchangeably, myths are stories that tell of how something came to be—for example Noah’s ark, or the story behind the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. Legends are stories that blur the lines of myth and history, for instance the Greek heroes in the saga of Troy. In poetry, repeating consonant sounds often cause the reader to stop and linger over the phrase a little longer, teasing out both its music and its meaning (notice the consonance in “linger, little, longer” and “music” and “meaning”?). 8. Enjambment

No list of poems is complete without the Bard himself. Known primarily for his plays, universally accepted as some of the best works in world literature, Shakespeare was also a poet, composing over 150 sonnets in his lifetime. Sonnet 29 is a lamentation on the loss of fame and fortune but ends with a meditation on the love that he has for his beloved. Works such as It’s a Wonderful Life echo the themes in Shakespeare’s Sonnet, showing us that the company of loved ones far outweighs all the riches that the world offers. Aristotle's work was influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age, [27] as well as in Europe during the Renaissance. [28] Later poets and aestheticians often distinguished poetry from, and defined it in opposition to prose, which they generally understood as writing with a proclivity to logical explication and a linear narrative structure. [29] Poetry (a term derived from the Greek word poiesis, "making"), also called verse, [note 1] is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic [1] [2] [3] qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. A poem is a literary composition, written by a poet, using this principle. Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1975". Archived from the original on October 22, 2016 . Retrieved March 12, 2017. The first are those who seek to embrace any and all poetic devices they can find and pile them one on top of the other, creating an architectural marvel not entirely dissimilar to a literary jenga puzzle—also known as Art.Situational irony would include things like a police station getting robbed or a marriage counselor getting a divorce—we would expect police to be able to resist getting robbed and a marriage counselor to be able to save their own marriage, so the fact that these unexpected things occur is darkly funny.