Dust of Snow Literary Devices / Poetic Devices

1. Rhyme Scheme- abab cdcd

2. Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
The instances of alliteration are as follows-
1. Has given my heart
2. And saved some part

1. inversion – when the structure of a sentence is changed by the poet to create rhyme, this poetic license is called
inversion. In stanza 1, inversion can be seen.
2. assonance – the prominence of a vowel sound throughout a line is called assonance. In stanza 1, line 2 – “Shook
down on me” – ‘o’ sound is prominent.
3. enjambment – when the same sentence continues to the next line without the use of any punctuation marks, it is
called enjambment. It has been used throughout the poem.

Fire and Ice Literary devices

1. Rhyming scheme- Aba
abc
bcb
2. Assonance- it is repetition of vowel sounds in same line. The repetition is at different places in different words.
Example- The long sound of “o” in “I hold with those who favour fire”
3. Alliteration- alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the start of two or more closely placed words.
Example- The sound of “f” in “favour fire”, “w” in “world will”
4. Imagery- Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Example- “Some say the
world will end in fire”
“To say that for destruction ice Is also great”
5. Anaphora- the repetition of a word or expression at the start of two or more consecutive lines.
Example – “Some say” is repeated at the start of lines 1 and 2.
6. Personification- Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. In this poem, “fire” and “ice” are
capable of destruction. Thus, the poet personifies fire and ice by giving them mind and power to destroy anything.
7. Enjambment- it is defined as the thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break, rather it moves
over to the next line.
Example- “From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire”

A Tiger in the Zoo Poem

Poem
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
Word Meaning
Stalks: follows
Vivid: bright colored
Pads: paws of tiger
Rage: anger
Literary Devices
Rhyme scheme: abcb (cage-rage)
Personification: The tiger is personified because the poet refers him as ‘he’.
Metaphor: Tiger’s paws are compared with velvet (pads of velvet)
Enjambment: Sentence is continuing to next line without any punctuation mark.
Imagery: poet tries to create an image about the tiger (He stalks in his vivid stripes The few steps of his cage)
Consonance: use of ‘s’ sound (stalks, his, stripes)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘I’ (in his vivid stripes)
Oxymoron: use of adjectives opposite in meaning (quiet rage)

Poem
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
Word Meaning
Lurking: To be hidden as to wait for your prey

Literary Devices/ Poetic Devices

Rhyme: rhyme scheme is abcb (grass-pass)
Enjambment: Line continues to next line without punctuation marks. (Sliding through….deer pass)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘p’ at the start of two words (plump pass)
Imagery: The poet has tries to create an image of tiger’s activities (lurking in shadow).

Poem
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
Word Meaning
Snarling: warning sounds made by animals
Baring: uncovered
Fangs: Sharp tooth of animals

Literary devices
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (edge, village)
Enjambment: Line continues to next line without punctuation marks (He should be snarling around houses At the
jungle’s edge,)
Onomatopoeia: using words which denote sound (snarling)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ and ‘I’ (should, around, houses), (Baring, his, white, his)
Consonance: use of consonant sound ‘s’ (his, fangs, his, claws)

Poem
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.

Word Meaning
Concrete: building made of bricks, cement, sand and water

Literary devices
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (bars-visitors)
Personification: The tiger is personified because the poet refers him as ‘he’.
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ (he, locked, concrete, cell)
Consonance: use of consonant sound ‘s’ (his, strength, bars)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two words (behind bars)
Poem
He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

Word Meaning
Patrolling: to guard, to vigil

Literary devices:
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (cars-stars)
Enjambment: Line three continues to line four without any punctuation mark. (And stares with his brilliant eyes At the
brilliant stars.)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘h’ in the starting of two words (he hears)
Assonance: use of ‘I’ sound (with, his, brilliant)

How to Tell Wild Animals Poem

POEM :
If ever you should go by chance
To jungles in the east;
And if there should to you advance
A large and tawny beast,
If he roars at you as you’re dyin’
You’ll know it is the Asian Lion…
Word meaning : Tawny: yellowish brown color

Literary Devices :
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (chance-advance, east-beast, dyin-lion)
Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence to the next line (and if there…..tawny beast)
Inversion: Change in the format of a sentence (if there should to you advance)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ’o’ (you should go, should to you, roars,)
Allusion: Reference to a famous thing, place, species of animal, etc (Asian Lion)
POEM :
Or if some time when roaming round,
A noble wild beast greets you,
With black stripes on a yellow ground,
Just notice if he eats you.
This simple rule may help you learn
The Bengal Tiger to discern.
Word meaning :
Noble: high born, aristocratic
Discern: recognize

Literary Devices :
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (round-ground, you-you learn-discern)
Alliteration: repetition of consonant sound ‘r’ at start of two or more closely connected words
(roaming round)
Inversion: Change in the format of a sentence (The Bengal Tiger to discern)
Allusion: Reference to a famous thing, place, species of animal, etc (Bengal Tiger)
Assonance: Use of vowel sound ’o’ (or if some time when roaming round)
POEM :
If strolling forth, a beast you view,
Whose hide with spots is peppered,
As soon as he has lept on you,
You’ll know it is the Leopard.
’Twill do no good to roar with pain,
He’ll only lep and lep again.
Word meaning :
Strolling: walking casually
Forth: forward
Hide: skin of animal
Peppered: Here it means the spots
Lept (Leapt): jump towards someone

Literary Devices:
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (view- you, peppered- Leopard, pain-again)
Alliteration: use of consonant sound ‘h’ in the beginning of two words (he has)
Poetic license: A liberty to the poet to change the spellings in order to create rhyme or rhythm in a poem (use of lept
instead of leapt)
Repetition: use of ‘lep’ word in the last line.
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (strolling-forth-you, whose-spot, do no good to roar)
Consonance: use of ‘l’ sound (he’ll only lep lep)

POEM :
If when you’re walking round your yard
You meet a creature there,
Who hugs you very, very hard,
Be sure it is a Bear.
If you have any doubts, I guess
He’ll give you just one more caress.
Word meaning :
Yard: backyard or the lawn area of a house
Caress: A gentle touch

Literary Devices:
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (yard-hard, there- bear, guess-caress)
Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence to the next line (if you were walking….creature there)
Alliteration: use of ‘w’ sound (when-walking), use of ‘h’ sound (who- hugs), use of ‘b’ sound (be-bear)
Assonance: use of vowel ‘e’ (meet a creature there)

POEM :
Though to distinguish beasts of prey
A novice might nonplus,
The Crocodile you always may
Tell from the Hyena thus:
Hyenas come with merry smiles;

But if they weep they’re Crocodiles

Word meaning :
Distinguish: Differentiate
Beast of Prey: Any animals that hunts other animals for food
Novice: Someone new to a job
Nonplus: be confused

Literary Devices:
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (prey-may, nonplus-thus, smiles-crocodiles)
Alliteration: use of consonant sound ‘n’ (novice-nonplus), use of ‘th’ sound (the-thus)
Enjambment: continuation of sentence to the next line (though to distinguish….might nonplus, The
crocodile…..hyena thus)

POEM :
The true Chameleon is small,
A lizard sort of thing;
He hasn’t any ears at all,
And not a single wing.
If there is nothing on the tree,
’Tis the chameleon you see.

Literary Devices :
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme ababcc is followed (small-all, thing-wing, tree-see)
Alliteration: use of ‘h’ sound (he hasn’t)
Consonance: use of ‘g’ sound (single wing)

The Ball Poem

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over — there it is in the water!

Word Meaning :
Merrily: cheerful
Bouncing: jumping up and down

Literary devices:
Anaphora: use of repeated words in two or more lines (What is the boy… what, what and merrily bouncing… merrily
over)
Assonance: repeated use of vowel ‘o’ (boy, now, who, lost)
Imagery: when poet says merrily bouncing down the street
repetition: ‘what’ is repeated

No use to say ‘O there are other balls’:

An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him;
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility

Word Meaning :
Grief: sorrow
Rigid: fixed
Trembling: shaking
Harbour: dock, port
Intrude: invader
Dime: 10 cents (U.S)
Worthless: valueless, useless

Literary devices:
Repetition: use of word ‘ball’
Asyndeton: no use of conjunction in a sentence (A dime, another ball, is worthless)
POEM :
In a world of possessions. People will take
Balls, balls will be lost always, little boy.
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up.
Word Meaning :
Possessions: ownership
External: Here, things with which feelings are not attached
Desperate: hopeless
Epistemology: The Greek word episteme means ‘knowledge’

Literary devices:
Alliteration: use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two consecutive words (buys a ball back)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ (He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes)
Repetition: ‘ball’ word is repeated
Rhyme scheme: There is no rhyme scheme followed in the poem.

Amanda Poem
POEM :
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
Word meaning :
Hunch: bend
Slouching: sitting in a lazy way
Languid: relaxed
Emerald: here, green color
Inhabitant: resident
Drifting: carried slowly by the water
Blissfully: happily

Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite… don’t hunch)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
Rhyme: aaba ccc (Amanda, Amanda, straight, Amanda, sea, me, blissfully)
Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to the colour of emrald
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Imagery: drifting blissfully
Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ – ‘s’ sound is being repeated at the start of closely placed words.
Allusion: ‘mermaid’ is a well known imaginary creature.

POEM :
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
Word meaning :
Orphan: A child whose parents are dead
Hushed: quiet and still place

Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you finish….did you tidy)
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme is aada eee (Amanda, Amanda, shoes, Amanda, street, feet, sweet)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Metaphor: silence is golden – silence is said to be glorious like golden colour
freedom is sweet – freedom is said to be sweet in taste.

Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!

Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(I am Rapunzel; I have not a care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
Word meaning :
Acne: Pimples
Rapunzel: A girl in the fairy tale by Brothers Grimm
Tranquil: calm, quiet
Rare: uncommon

Literary devices:
Allusion: use of famous fairy tale character Rapunzel
Rhyme: rhyme scheme aafa ggg (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda, care, rare, hair)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you
Consonance: use of sound ‘r’ (I am Rapunzel; I have not a care …..Bright hair)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’

POEM :
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
Word meaning:
Sulking: be in a bad mood
Moody: unstable
Nagged: harass

Literary Devices:
Alliteration: ‘Stop that sulking’ – ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely placed words
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Rhyme scheme: aaha (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda)