1.

Allusions - An allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event,

person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers' minds. Allusions are often used
within a metaphor or simile.

An allusion is when a person or author makes an indirect reference in speech, text, or song to an event
or figure. Often the allusions made are to past events or figures, but sometimes allusions are made to
current famous people or events. .

For instance, imagine a writer needs to explain her main character's struggle against an overwhelmingly
powerful opponent.

Short Examples of Allusion

1. His opponent was looking for his Achilles’ heel to beat him.
2. The property tycoon named his housing society Eden Garden.
3. The decision of the apex court would certainly open Pandora’s Box.
4. His best friend now considered him Brutus due to his recent betrayal.
5. Blake’s fellow students call him Einstein for his genius.
6. The ship sank like a Titanic.
7. The renowned scholar suffered from narcissism.
8. Tony Buzan is called the Stephen Hawking of mind sciences.
9. The young writer was rightly called the Shakespeare of modern times.
10. The young scientist was called Newton by his colleagues.
11. He was called Hamlet because of his procrastinating habits.
12. The prices have gone so high that a common thing like wheat has become forbidden fruit.
13. An apple fell on his head but he discovered nothing.
14. To climb Mount Everest in winter was a Herculean task.
15. The film was based on the hero’s platonic love.

Sample from the Poetry

Example #1: Paradise Lost (by John Milton)

“All night the dread less Angel unpursued

Through Heaven’s wide Champaign held his way; till Morn,

Waked by the circling Hours, with rosy hand

Unbarred the gates of Light. There is a cave

Within the Mount of God, fast by his Throne”

When talking about allusion, any conversation would not be complete without discussing the King of
Allusion, 17th century English poet, John Milton. In these lines alone, we count no fewer than three
allusions: one to Abdiel, one to the Greek Myth “The Horae,” and one to Homer’s “The Odyssey.”
Example #2: Epistles to Several Persons (by Alexander Pope)

“Another age shall see the golden ear

Embrown the slope, and nod on the parterre,

Deep harvests bury all his pride has planned,

And laughing Ceres reassume the land.”

Here, Pope is making an allusion to Demeter, the Goddess of Wheat and Grain, showing how this place
will once again return to earth for plough.

Example #3: Ode to a Grecian Urn (by Keats)

“Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?”

“Tempe” is an allusion to the Vale of Tempe, where the gods gathered. This shows his utmost respect
for the urn.

Example #4: Firebird (by Lee Emmett)

“Nothing prepares us for brilliant

entrance of creature of fantasy

or object of enchantment

Useless to resist its allure

always takes unawares”

This allusion is slightly different, as it is an open allusion, meaning that everyone can interpret it
differently. Some see Greek mythology allusions, while other see Biblical allusions.
Example #5: All Overgrown by Cunning Moss (by Emily Dickinson)

“All overgrown by cunning moss,

All interspersed with weed,

The little cage of ‘Currer Bell’

In quiet ‘Haworth’ laid.”

Here, Dickinson makes an allusion to another writer, Charlotte Bronte, who used Currer Bell as a pen
name so she could be published.

Example #6: Nothing Gold Can Stay (by Robert Frost)

“So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

In this poem, Frost’s allusion to Eden strengthens the theme of the fleeting nature of happiness. His
mention of Eden shows that humans are often their own downfall.

Example #7: The Burial of the Dead (by T. S. Eliot)

“Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee

With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,

And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,

And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.”

Here, Eliot makes a reference to Starnbergersee and Hofgarten, which are important royal places in
Germany. Instead of these actual places, however, they are meant to show the beauty of life.
Example #8: The Raven (by Edgar Alan Poe)

“Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my

chamber door—”

“Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell

me, I implore!”

Here are two allusions: One to Pallas to show the burst of wisdom, as Pallas is the Greek Goddess of
Wisdom. The other is more obscure: “Balm in Gilead” is an old statement that was used to ask if there
was comfort in the world.

Example #9: Dulce et Decorum Est (by Wilfred Owen)

“Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.”

“Dulce et decorum est” is an allusion to the start of World War I. These were the words uttered by many
on the battle lines – meaning that it is sweet and right to die for your country.

Example #10: Sonnet 18 (by William Shakespeare)

“But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade.”

Shakespeare’s reference to “shade” is actually an allusion to the funeral psalm, or Psalm 23.
Example #11: Venus and Adonis (by William Shakespeare)

“Narcissus so himself himself forsook

And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.”

The word in bold is used as an allusion, taken from the classical mythology where a handsome man falls
in love with his own body and keeps looking at himself in the water.

Example #12: Love Song of Alfred J Prufrock (by T.S. Eliot)

“To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,

Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all —”

In the Bible, Lazarus has been raised by Jesus to tell what happened to him after his death. The poet says
he is not Lazarus, who can do this, but a common man. This may refer to contrast in the lives of the poet
and that of Lazarus.

Example #13: Hamlet (by William Shakespeare)

“Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she—

O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourned longer!—married with my uncle”

The allusion is to Greek mythology, for the mother who wept for the death of her sons.

Example #14: The Raven (by Edgar Allan Poe)

“Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door —

Perched, and sat, and nothing more”

Pallas alludes to the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athena. The poet has used this allusion to show
his love for learning and scholarship. It may also refer to the poet’s rational approach.
Example #15: The Prelude (by William Wordsworth)

In that beloved Vale to which, erelong,

I was transplanted …

William Wordsworth has used an allusion of the valley where he spent his childhood. The word Vale has
an initial capital, which points to his use of allusion.

Example #16: The Ministry of Fear (by Seamus Heaney)

“The lonely scarp

Of St Columb’s College, where I billeted

For six years, overlooked your Bogside.”

Seamus Heaney has used allusion in the shape of the name of his college. It is highlighted in the second
line “St Columb’s College.”

Function of Allusion

The function of allusion is to add depth to a writing, allowing the author to refer to certain people,
places, things, or happenings in a round-about manner, in order to create a more broad meaning.
Allusions are everywhere in poetry, if one just knows where to look

Apostrophe

In literature, apostrophe is a figure of speech sometimes represented by an exclamation, such

as “Oh.” A writer or speaker, using apostrophe, speaks directly to someone who is not present or is
dead, or speaks to an inanimate object.

Apostrophe in literature is an arrangement of words addressing a non-existent person or an

abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings.

It is important not to confuse apostrophe, the literary device, with the apostrophe punctuation mark (‘).
The punctuation mark shows possession, or marks the omission of one or more letters (contraction).
Examples of Apostrophe in Literature
English literature is replete with instances of apostrophe. Let us have a look at a few examples.

Example #1: Macbeth (By William Shakespeare)

William Shakespeare makes use of apostrophe in his play Macbeth:

“Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand?

Come, let me clutch thee!

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.”

In his mental conflict before murdering King Duncan, Macbeth has a strange vision of a dagger and talks
to it as if it were a person.

Example #2: The Star (By Jane Taylor)

Jane Taylor uses apostrophe in the well-known poem, The Star:

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.”

This poem became one of the most popular nursery rhymes told to little children – often in the form of
song. In this nursery rhyme, a child speaks to a star (an inanimate object). Hence, this is a classic
example of apostrophe.

Example #3: Frankenstein (By Mary Shelly)

Look at how Mary Shelly uses apostrophe in her novel Frankenstein:

“Oh! Stars and clouds and winds, ye are all about to mock me; if ye really pity me, crush sensation and
memory; let me become as naught; but if not, depart, depart, and leave me in darkness.”
Talking to stars, clouds, and winds is apostrophe.

Example #4: Death Be Not Proud (By John Donne)

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,

For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,

Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”

Here, Donne speaks to death, an abstract idea, as if it were a person capable of comprehending his
feelings.

Example #5: The Sun Rising (By John Donne)

John Donne once more uses apostrophe in his poem The Sun Rising:

“Busy old fool, unruly Sun,

Why dost thou thus,

Through windows, and through curtains, call on

us?

Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?

Saucy pedantic wretch …”

The poet addresses the sun in an informal and colloquial way, as if it were a real human being. He asks
the Sun in a rude way why the Sun appeared and spoiled the good time he was having with his beloved.

Example #5: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (By James Joyce)

James Joyce uses apostrophe in his novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

“Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the
smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.”
Being able to talk to something abstract – like life itself – is possible only in literature.

Example #6: To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now (By Billy Collins)

In this excerpt, the poet uses conventional apostrophe starting with “O”:

“O stranger of the future!

O inconceivable being!

Whatever the shape of your house,

However you scoot from place to place,

No matter how strange and colorless the clothes you may wear,

I bet nobody likes a wet dog either.

I bet everyone in your pub,

Even the children, pushes her away.”

The speaker is talking to an imaginary character, the “stranger.”

Example #7: Sire (By W. S. Merwin)

Another apostrophe example comes from the poem Sire, written by W. S. Merwin:

“Forerunner, I would like to say, silent pilot,

Little dry death, future,

Your indirections are as strange to me

As my own. I know so little that anything

You might tell me would be a revelation.”

Function of Apostrophe

By employing apostrophe in their literary works, writers try to bring abstract ideas or non-existent
persons to life, so that the nature of emotions they want to communicate comes across in a better way.
It is more convenient for readers to relate themselves to abstract emotions when they observe them in
their natural surroundings. In addition, the use of apostrophe motivates readers to develop a
perspective that is fresh, as well as creative.

End Rhyme - occurs when the last syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other. It is
also known as “tail rhyme,” and occurs at the ends of the lines.

- The lines ending in similar sounds are pleasant to hear, and give musical effect to the poem or
song. This is called the end rhyme.

If you have ever sung a song or read a poem aloud, you must have encountered end rhymes, because
these are a common type of rhyming pattern used in a poetic structure. End rhyme occurs when the last
syllables or words in two or more lines rhyme with each other.

is one of the most commonly used types of poetic rhymes

Types of Rhyme

1. End rhyme – It comes at the end of two successive lines.

2. Internal rhyme – It occurs within a single line or a verse.
3. Slant rhyme – The rhyming words sound similar; however, they are often not very close to make
a complete rhyme.
4. Eye rhyme – It comprises of similar spellings, though not pronunciation, such as in “rough” and
“through.”
5. Identical rhyme – It uses the same word having identical sense and sound.
6. Masculine rhyme – It ends on stressed syllables like in “bells” and “hells.”
7. Feminine rhyme – It rhymes on one or two unstressed syllables, like “enticing,” and “endicing.”
8. Mono rhyme – It uses just a single rhyme in a stanza such as in Black’s poem “silent, silent
night.”
9. Pararhyme – It uses vowels in identical consonant pairs, such as in the words “groined, and
groaned.”

End Rhyme and Internal Rhyme

Internal rhyme uses two rhyming words within a single line of poetry, such as:

Example #1: The Raven (By Edgar Allen Poe)

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.”

However, end rhyme comprises of the final words or syllables of the lines such as:

Example #2: The Tyger (By William Blake)

“Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;”

Examples of End Rhyme in Literature

Mostly, Aesop’s fables are considered to have strong moral conclusions. However, almost all literary
writings have some morals to be conveyed to readers. Literary works aimed at children are replete with
moral lessons. They provide children with positive lessons and guidelines for the future. Maxims like “Be
friends with whom you don’t like,” “Don’t judge people by the way they look,” and “Slow and steady
wins the race” are normally the lessons found behind many stories.

Example #1: A W“A word is dead

When it is said,

Some say.

I say it just

Begins to live

That day.”

As can be seen, the first and the second lines use end rhyme with the words “dead” and “said.” The
other example of this rhyming pattern is in the third line with the sixth line on the words “say” and
“day.” Thus, it is the choice of the poet whether to use end rhyme throughout the entire poem for
creating strong rhythm, or use some other rhyming pattern.

Example #2: In Flanders Fields (By Colonel John McCrae)

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly.

Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

In these lines, the words “blow” and “row” rhyme in the first and second lines, and word “below” in final
line also rhyme with them. Similarly, words “sky” and “fly” rhyme in the third and fourth lines. The poet
uses end rhyme to create rhythmic flow, as he describes his sorrow for fallen soldiers died in the World
War I.
Example #3: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (By Robert Frost)

“Whose woods these are I think I know,

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.”

In this example, Frost has used end rhyme at the end of the first, second, and fourth lines with the
words “know” “though,” and “snow.” These rhyming lines add flow to the piece, and a pleasant effect to
the poem.

Example #4: Midstairs (By Virginia Hamilton Adair)

“And here on this turning of the stair

Between passion and doubt,

I pause and say a double prayer,

One for you, and one for you;

And so they cancel out.”

See end rhyme occurring on the final syllables “stair” and “prayer” of the first and third lines; and
“doubt” and “out” in the second and fifth lines.

Function of End Rhyme

The poets often use end rhyme to create rhythm in their works. If they use it throughout the entire
poem, then it creates a beautiful rhyming pattern, giving musical quality to the poem, because it adds
flow in a perfect rhythmic way. It serves as a strong mnemonic device that facilitates memorization. In
addition, its regular use marks off the ending of the lines, thus elucidating metrical structure for the
audience. Songwriters also make use of it frequently to make their lyrics sound appealing, and often it
becomes easier for the audience to remember.ord is Dead (By Emily Dickinson)
Lyric - is a collection of verses and choruses, making up a complete song, or a short and non-narrative
poem. A lyric uses a single speaker, who expresses personal emotions or thoughts. Lyrical poems, which
are often popular for their musical quality and rhythm, are pleasing to the ear, and are easily put to
music.

The term lyric originates from the Greek word “lyre,” which is an instrument used by the Grecians to
play when reading a poem. Lyrical poets demonstrate specific moods and emotions through words. Such
moods express a range of emotions, from extreme to nebulous, about life, love, death, or other
experiences of life. Read on to learn more about lyric in literature.

Types of Lyric

There are several types of lyric used in poems :

Elegy

- An elegy is a mournful, sad, or melancholic poem or a song that expresses sorrow for someone
who has bee lost, or died. Originally, it followed a structure using a meter alternating six foot
and five foot lines. However, modern elegies do not follow such a pattern, though the mood of
the poem remains the same.

Ode

- An ode is a lyric poem that expresses intense feelings, such as love, respect, or praise for
someone or something. Like an elegy, an ode does not follow any strict format or structure,
though it uses refrains or repeated lines. It is usually longer than other lyrical forms, and focuses
on positive moods of life.

Sonnet

- A sonnet uses fourteen lines, and follows iambic pentameter with five pairs of accented and
unaccented syllables. The structure of a sonnet, with predetermined syllables and rhyme
scheme, makes it flow off the tongues of readers in way similar way to a on song on the radio.

Dramatic Monologue

- A dramatic monologue has theatrical quality, which means that the poem portrays a solitary
speaker communing with the audience, without any dialogue coming from other characters.
Usually, the speaker talks to a specific person in the poem.

Occasional Poetry

Poets write occasional poetry for specific occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, victories,
and dedications, such as John Dryden’s “Annus Mirabilis,” and Edmund Spencer’s “Epithalamion.”
Examples of Lyric in Literature

Example #1: Italian Sonnet (by James DeFord)

“Turn back the heart you’ve turned away

Give back your kissing breath

Leave not my love as you have left

The broken hearts of yesterday

But wait, be still, don’t lose this way…

Accept my love, live for today.”

This is an example of a sonnet, using fourteen lines with a metrical pattern of iambic pentameter. The
poem is about feelings of love for a beloved. It tells how it is worth staying with one another instead of
leaving.

Example #2: Ode to the West Wind (by Percy Bysshe Shelley)

“Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawaken’d earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

This excerpt from an ode demonstrates lyric This poem has fourteen lines, and is written in iambic
pentameter. Each stanza is divided into four tercets followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme form is
terza rima. The mood has a positive lyrical quality.

Example #3: My Last Duchess (by Robert Browning)

“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,

Looking as if she were alive. I call

That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands

Worked busily a day, and there she stands…

“Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read

Strangers like you that pictured countenance,”

This poem is a dramatic monologue in which the Duke shows a portrait of his former wife to the
emissary through his point of view. In so doing, he reveals his position, his jealous temperament, and
excessive pride. This monologue also has a lyrical quality found in its rhyme scheme.

Example #4: O Captain! My Captain (by Walt Whitman)

“‘O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack,

the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

But O heart! heart! heart!”

This is the first stanza of Whitman’s famous elegy. Notice its mood, which is somber, and filled with
intense sadness. Still, the words are giving melodic flow due to lyrical quality.

Function

A lyrical poet addresses his audience directly by portraying their state of mind or emotions. That
is why a lyrical poem expresses personal emotions of the poet. The themes of lyrical poems are also
emotional and lofty, enabling the readers to look into the life of things deeply. That is why such poems
have universal appeal, because readers can relate their feelings with the poem.