POETIC DEVICES

- Also known as imagery and figures of speech.

1. SIMILE – A comparison which is stated explicitly with the help of a word such as like/as.
EX. Love is like a red rose.
They are like trees planted by streams of water which yield fruit in the season.
2. METAPHOR – Two things are linked or equated without using like or as.
EX. Love is a red rose.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.
3. HYPERBOLE – An exaggeration of truth for the sake of emphasis.
EX. They sell mile-high ice cream cones.
Saul and Jonathan beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were
swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
4. ALLITERATION – The repetition of an initial consonant sound.
EX. The peasantry prospered in Israel, they grew fat on plunder, because you arose as a mther in
Israel.
5. REPITITION
EX. He sank, he fell,
He lay still at her feet;
at her feet he sank, he fell;
where he sank…
6. PARALLELISM – Refers to the similarities…
EX. The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
The world, and those who live in it;
for He has founded it on the seas,
and establish it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And those who shall stand in His holy place?
7. PERSONIFICATION
EX. The leaves danced as the wind blew them softly.