DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL SURAT

SUBJECT: ENGLISH STUDY NOTES CLASS: XII

Note: The hand-out comprisess of figures of speech in poems.. Read the given examples and
then read the poem to identify more examples of the same.

Literary devices

My Mother At Sixty-Six
Six (Poetic Devices/Figures Of Speech)
By Kamala Das

Simile – a) her face ashen like that of a corpse

b) As a late winter’s moon
c) As old as she looked
Personification - Trees sprinting
Metaphor – merry y children spilling out of their homes
Repetition- smile and smile and smile…
Contrast- youth and old age

Symbols
children symbolic of youth and vitality, life and growth
Trees sprinting and merry children-
Winter’s moon- symbolic of death and decay
Security check- restrictions and limitations imposed in life

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Metaphor

1. gusty waves — children are compared to gusty waves — energetic and exuberant.
2. The Tall girl with her weighed-
weighed down head- ill and exhausted, burden of pove
poverty
3. paper seeming boy- boy is compared with paper as he is thin
4. rat’s eyes- hunger and insecurity
5. squirrel’s game – playfulness, innocent pleasures of childhood
6. tree room- a hollow in the tree full of fun, curiosity and mystery
7. Shakespeare head- education and classical literature
8. Civilized dome- prosperity and development
9. Valley – beauty and bounty of world

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 10. Open handed map- outside world filled with endless opportunity
11. Awarding the world its world – the world map shown to the slum children- the world
map belongs to rich and privileged and not accessible to slum children
12. Future’s painted with a fog - refers to the future of the slum children which has been
compared to the fog because it is uncertain and unclear.
13. A narrow sealed in with a lead sky’- refers to the dull and grey colour of the sky and also
the depressing future of the slum children.
14. Rivers and capes – stand for beauty and glory of nature
15. stars of words — refers to the words or educationwhich is beyond their reach
16. Shakespeare- education and classical literature
17. For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes- Their homes are very small like holes
and denotes their insect like existence
18. from fog to endless night’ — refers to the future of the slum children which is without
any ray of hope, a future that can only go from bad to worse
19. Slag heap- pile of garbage, wasted bodies
20. wear skins peeped through by bones — refers to the thin emaciated bodies of the
children which has been reduced to mere skin and bones
21. foggy slum-life is dark without any hope in these slums

Simile
1. like rootless weeds — the children have been compared to rootless weeds, insecure and
unwanted by the society.
2. like bottle bits on stones — shattered and hopeless future
3. windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs — the classroom and the homes in
which the slum children live have been compared to underground burial chambers
4. slums as big as doom- living in slum is equal to living in hell

Symbol
1. squirrel’s game — something that helps the child to escape the grim reality of his
surroundings
2. civilized dome riding all cities— cities that show the progress of the civilization and its
marvellous architecture (also Personification — riding all cities).
3. open-handed map — a map drawn arbitrarily by the people in power and the privileged.
4. Ship- adventure, journey, exploration
5. Sun- education/light of knowledge/enlightenment
6. Love- care
7. For lives that slyly turn- insect like existence
8. fog— bleak and unclear
9. map with slums as big as doom— the grim reality of the lives of the slum children.
10. green fields, gold sand — colour, happiness, nature and golden opportunities.
11. white and green leaves — learning from pages of books and nature.
12. run azure — experience the rich colours of the blue waves.

Allusion
Reference to well-known person or place (Shakespeare’s head, Tyrolese valley)

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Repetition
Far Far
Break O break open till they break the town

Alliteration
Alliteration is repetition of consonant sounds.
Eg:‘bottle bits’
Break o break till they break the town

Assonance
Repetition of vowel sound ‘e’ (Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley)

Anaphora:
Use of repeated words in two consecutive lines (Run azure, And Run naked)

Imagery
Imagery is the use of figurative language to represent the objects, ideas, and actions in such a
way that the appeals to the physical senses.

The poem is replete with imagery.

Example: the tall girl with weighed down head

Paper seeming boy with rat’s eyes
Tyrolese valley

Keeping Quiet By Pablo Neruda (Poetic Devices/Figures Of Speech)

The poet has used symbols and comparisons to explain how we can end conflicts, wars and
corrosive activities that are leading to the death of our civilization. He advocates keeping quiet
and still for a while to introspect and understand ourselves and our relationship with our brothers
and nature to build a peaceful and harmonious world order.
1. ‘Count to twelve’ – symbolizes a measure of time. The clock has twelve markings on it,
the year has twelve months and the day has twelve hours
‘Fishermen in the cold sea…hurt hands’-symbolic image showing how man is ruthlessly
destroying nature and harming other species in cold blood for his selfish need and greed.
The ‘hurt hands’ – the sore hands of the salt gatherer would make him realize how he is
harming himself by his mindless corrosive activities. (fishermen and salt gatherer -
symbol for oppressor and oppressed)
Earth can teach us as when everything… symbol, Just as earth, the greatest creator, in its
sleeping modeappears to be dead on surface but is actually dormant and carefully
preserving the seeds of life, humanbeings too need to keep still and quiet to rejuvenate
and awaken the life forces within and be productive.

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 Brothers – symbol of mankind
2. Repetition: 1) without.., 2) wars..- to create a bond with the reader and stress his point.
3. Metaphor:1)‘…put on clean clothes’-. The poet says that quiet introspection will make
us comprehend the destructive nature of wars. Man would shed his blood soiled clothes
and don on clean clothes i.e. he would cleanse his soul, heart and mind, purging it of all
anger and hatred.
2) In the shade- metaphor- just as shade protects us from the harsh sun, we will protect
and shelter each other as brothers, thus live in peace and harmony.
4. Euphemism: no truck (death)
5. Pun: ‘arm’: First meaning: not moving our hands and be involved in activities (body part,
limbs)
Second: arm stands for weapons and ammunition
6. Alliteration: A few e.g.: his hurt hands.. , wars with gas wars with fire…
7. Anaphora- Let’s …..
8. Irony- when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive

A Thing Of Beauty-John Keats (Poetic Devices/Figures Of Speech)

1. Metaphor: bower quiet; sweet dreams; wreathing a flowery band; pall; endless fountain
of immortal drink
2. Alliteration: noble natures; cooling covert; band to bind
3. Imagery: flowery bands, shady boon, daffodils in green world, clear rills, cooling covert,
grandeur of dooms, endless fountain of eternal drink
4. Symbol: simple sheep – refers to mankind as Christ is the shepherd
5. Transferred epithet: gloomy days; unhealthy and o’er darkened ways
6. Anaphora: Of noble natures….Of all the unhealthy ….
7. Antithesis: old and young
8. Inversion: Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

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Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger(Poetic Devices/Figures Of Speech)
By Adrienne Rich

1. Alliteration-[repetition of consonant sounds at the start of nearby words] e.g ‘p’ in

‘prancing proud’ emphasises the feeling of confidence expressed in the tigers’
movements. ‘Pace’ and ‘prance’ are action words. The rhyme mimics the movement of
the tigers.
Other example: Finger’s fluttering; chivalric certainty; weight of wedding band
2. Imagery: The main images are of Aunt Jennifer as a fearful wife and, secondly, the
magnificent tigers she creates in her panel. Images of precious substances run through the
poem: ‘topaz’, ‘ivory’ and the gold of ‘wedding band’.
3. Visual imagery- Bright topaz denizens; world of green; ivory needle, fluttering fingers,
prance, pace, wedding band sits heavily
4. Irony: It is ironical that Aunt Jennifer’s creations- the tigers will continue to pace and
prance freely, while Aunt herself will remain terrified even after death, ringed by the
ordeals she was controlled by in her married life. Art survives artist doesn’t.
Terrified and timid aunt creates fearless tigers
5. Symbols:
i. Wedding band- symbol of oppression in an unhappy marriage. Its weight refers to the
burden of gender expectations. Ringed means encircled or trapped, losing individuality
and freedom.
ii. Aunt Jennifer- a typical victim of male oppression in an unhappy marriage, who suffers
loss of individuality, dignity and personal freedom silently. She becomes dependent,
fearful and frail.
iii. Tigers- symbolize untamed free spirit. Here they stand in contrast to their creator’s
personality. The use of colours implies that Aunt Jennifer's tigers and their land are more
vital and enjoy a sense of freedom far greater than her. They pace and prance freely,
proudly, fearless, confident and majestic (fearless of men), tigers (innermost desires of
Aunt Jennifer)
Animal symbolism – the animals she sews represent Aunt Jennifer’s innermost desires to
be free, fearless, joyful, graceful, elegant, noble, powerful, assertive and confident.
iv. men beneath the tree: predators, the uncle who has mastered aunt Jennifer’s spirit
v. Yellow (bright topaz) connotes the sun and fierce energy; green reminds one of spring
and vitality (forest- natural habitat of tigers)
vi. Embroidery- symbol of creative expression. The artwork expresses the Aunt’s
suppressed desires and becomes her escape from the oppressive reality of her life.
vii. Aunt (last stanza) – as opposed to Aunt Jennifer. It shows that she has lost her identity
completely, thus lost even her name.

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6. Metaphor:
i. Ringed with ordeals: even death would not free her as the wedding band, a symbol of
oppression, would yet be on her finger.
ii. The poet compares the yellow stripes of the tigers to a precious stone, topaz.
iii. World of green- stands for forest and vitality of tigers
7. Transferred Epithet: ‘terrified fingers’, it is the Aunt who is terrified.
8. Personification: ring sits heavily upon aunt’s hand
9. Hyperbole [Exaggeration]: (massive weight)The poet exaggerates the weight of her
husband’s wedding ring to make a point about how dominating he is, in reality ring is
lightweight.
10. Repetition: The word ‘prance’ is repeated to emphasise the pride and freedom of the
tigers. ‘Ringed’ echoes ‘wedding band’. There is repetition of various sounds as indicated
in the next few bullet points. .
11. Synecdoche: (terrified hands), not just hands but whole aunt is terrified.
12. Pun: (ringed), ring on the finger, symbol of marriage, image of animal captured and
controlled by the master
13. Comparison: The tigers are compared to knights from the time of chivalry in the middle
ages.
14. Contrast [difference]: The main contrasts are between nervous Aunt Jennifer and her
confident tigers. Movement of aunt’s hand (fluttering fingers) and that of tigers (chivalric
certainity). Another contrast is between the strong yellow and green colour. The words
‘prancing’ and ‘fluttering’ contrast as well.
15. Paradox [apparent contradiction]: Here a trembling and ‘mastered’ woman creates free
and confident creatures in her artistic endeavours. ‘Fluttering’ fingers produce something
that has ‘certainty’.
Mood/Atmosphere: Fear is the main atmosphere in Aunt Jennifer’s life of ‘ordeals’ where her
fingers tremble and show terror. An air of freedom and confidence dominates the atmosphere in
her artistic creations. The men beneath the tree create an atmosphere of mystery. The image of
Aunt Jennifer’s corpse from the future is a bit eerie or creepy.
Tone: The tone appears to be positive and cheerful when the poet describes the tigers. Opening
line: sibilance. The tone becomes sad and even creepy at times in describing the life of Aunt
Jennifer.
Themes: – ordeals of marriage in a patriarchal society, art as a means of expression and escape