Different Types of Poetic Devices with Examples

We all love to listen and read poems. Throughout our lives, we might have read and heard numerous poems in our homes and schools. Many of you taking an English literature course might have a good sense of poetry as well. But have you ever noticed that all poems are different in the style and manner in which they were written? Have you ever noticed a different pattern of poems? Those patterns are known as poetic devices. The different types of sounds, shapes, rhythms, phrases, and words used in the poems are referred to as poetic devices. Each poet might use all these terms differently, with the motive of pulling the reader into the imaginary world. These are important tools that give shape and meaning to any of the poems.

With this blog post from AllAssignmentHelp.com, let us find out more about these devices and how different poets use them in their respective works. We hope that by the end of this blog post, you will have a different opinion about poems and that it will further help you in your studies.

Also Read: British Literature and Its Division Into Various Periods

What Are Poetic Devices?

Poems are completely different from other writing. A poet has limited materials to create his masterpiece. He cannot use everything he wants and can only use the correct words to express ideas and feelings. When you have only a weapon, you need to use it sensibly. So is the poetry, which demands high-order words. If you use words correctly, you can also create a masterpiece. Words should sound right to the listener and delight their ears. But keep in mind that it should have a meaning and should also encourage the depth of human thoughts, empathy, and feelings. Words in poems should appear simple, self-contained, and natural.

The English language has many words that can convey any emotion or feeling. Writing a good poem demands a good arrangement of words. There is a great range of methods and plans for arranging these words. These methods, or plans, are known as poetic devices. These devices help in creating strong expressions that appeal to readers. Poetry is read silently, but it should have the feeling of being spoken aloud. Readers should also have the ability to hear and understand the artful work of poets.

If you are in the field of literature, you may be having issues understanding your courses. Writing an English literature homework on poems might not be a problem, but scoring a good grade can be. You may have the ability to complete an assignment on time, but you lack quality. So what could be the possible reason for not producing the quality, especially in assignments of the poem? The answer is that you are not aware of the intricacies of poetry. To overcome this difficulty, you should know about poetic devices. With this blog, you might get a good handle on the intricate areas of poetry.

Types of Poetic Devices

Poetry devices are something that the poets use to give meaning or enhance the beauty of their poems. Do you know that there are different types of poetic devices? Students studying English literature often get confused between these types. The only question they have in their mind is, can someone take my online English class? They think that by seeking professional help, they can free themselves from the stress of understanding different poetic devices. But let us tell you that no matter what you do, it will only prevent you for a temporary period. If you want to have a career in the literary field, you should know the difference between poetic dictions and others.

The poetic devices are divided into three types. They are:

• Poetic devices of sound
• Poetic devices of meaning
• Poetic devices of rhythm

Each of these types is different from one another and is furthermore divided into other subdivisions. We have briefly discussed all of them right below in this blog post. Refer them to find out what they are and get a clear understanding of how they work.

1- Poetic Devices Inspired by Word Sounds

The sounds of words create a magical effect in the reader’s mind. When words are clustered together, they create a specific effect when readers hear them. These sounds can hit readers in various ways. They can bring various emotions like anger, happiness, love, hate, or dislike. Let’s have a look at what the literary devices inspired by this sound poetry look like.

Alliteration

In literary work, alliteration can be defined as the noticeable repetition of the same first consonant sound in close syllables within a group of words. For instance,

• Fast and furious,
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• Andrew patted the pony.
• Kim’s kid kept kicking like crazy.

There are numerous examples of alliteration you can find over the internet or in libraries in various texts. Alliteration helps the reader focus on a particular section of the text. It creates rhythm and mood and may represent a specific connotation.

Assonance

It is a repeated vowel sound in words that are together or near each other in a sentence. You will find assonance in sounds that are accented or stressed in a line. For instance

• That solitude, which suits abstruser musings
• on a proud round cloud in white high night

As you can see in both examples, the sounds of vowels are repetitive. It gives a musical, internal rhyme to the poem and keeps the reader engaged. We have highlighted the assonance for a better understanding of this poetic device. “The Tyger,” a poem written by William Blake, is a good example of this poetic device. The poet has beautifully used assonance in every line of this poem.

Consonance

Consonance is more or less similar to the other two poetic devices, alliteration and assonance, but here consonants are near or together and repetitive. Here, the syllables are called consonants and are placed at the end. In some cases, it might be present in the middle but never at the beginning of words. For instance,

• Boats into the past
• Cool Soul

• He had a streak of bad luck.
• When Billie looked at the trailer, she smiled and laughed.
• Tyger Tyger, burning bright.

Cacophony

It is an unmusical series of unpleasant sounds that helps to convey disorder. You can see the examples below for a better understanding.

Examples:

• “I detest war because the cause of war is always trivial.”
• “Where spouting pillars spoor the evening sky,”
• “Of dynamos, where hearing’s leash is strummed…”

Here, the highlighted words are examples of cacophony. Poets or writers use this form of poetic device to show discordant situations with the help of discordant words. This creates an image of unpleasantness in the minds of the readers. The writer’s words are important to bring out the cacophony effect in the write-up.

 Euphony

This poetic device is derived from the Greek word euphonos, which means sweet-voiced. Euphony can be defined as the use of words or phrases that are used to create a melodious sound effect. Euphony is opposed to cacophony and gives a pleasing effect to the reader due to the repetition of vowels and smooth consonants. Writers use this device with other poetic devices such as assonance, rhyme, and alliteration to create pleasing and soothing effects.

Examples

• Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
  Close bosom friend of the maturing sun;
• Success is the sweetest.
  By those who don’t succeed.
• Courage!’ he said, and he pointed towards the land.
  ‘This mounting wave will roll us shoreward soon.’

Euphony brings a peaceful and pleasant feel to the literary work. Readers will enjoy such use of poetic devices in literary work. Long vowels create a better melodious effect than consonants or short vowels. Also, enunciation and pronunciation become easier. Euphony also helps in conveying messages to the audience more effectively.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is one of the poetic devices that is used to mimic a visual image. We can also say that it creates an onomatopoetic effect and helps the poet describe what he feels.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a good example of this poetic device

“There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley is scattering…”

Now, after discussing poetic devices based on sounds, the next one is poetic devices based on the meaning of the words. Let’s understand them in detail to learn more about them.

2- Poetic Devices Based on Word Meanings

Do you know that there are poetic devices that use figurative language and allow poets to easily convey their thoughts? Poetic devices of meaning are the types that poets use when they want to write a poem without being too liberal. The following are some examples of this type.

Allegory

Allegory is a poetic device in which abstract ideas are portrayed through characters, events, and figures. A writer can employ this in prose and poetry to tell a story to the audience. This helps in explaining the idea on which the poem is based. Often, the objective is to teach a moral lesson.

Example:

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser are two major allegorical works in English.

Allusion

An allusion is an indirect reference to a place, a person, or an idea of political, historical, or cultural significance. It is usually a brief reference that does not describe the person or thing in a detailed manner. It is more like a passing comment. The writer, while using allusion, expects a reader to understand it with the knowledge he or she has.

Examples:

• Don’t act like a Romeo in front of her.” Here in this sentence, Romeo refers to Shakespeare’s work. Romeo signifies a passionate lover.
• This place is like a Garden of Eden.” The Garden of Eden is an allusion to the Garden of God in Genesis.

Irony

This poetic device depicts a contradictory situation. It refers to a situation that ends up in a different way than expected. Irony describes the difference between reality and appearance.

Example

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink.
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

Irony brings added meaning to a situation or a poem. It helps in developing the reader’s interest. Irony makes the poem more intriguing. It also compels a reader to use imagination to seek the hidden meaning in lines.

Metaphor

It is a comparison between two unlike things. It shows the resemblance between two completely different things. Here, the comparison is direct and not hidden. Unlike a simile, here we do not use words such as ‘Like’ for the comparison.

Examples

• “She’s all states and all princes,”
• Before high-pil’d books, in character
  Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain.”
• Busy old fool, unruly sun,
  Why dost thou thus?
  Through windows and through curtains, call on us.”

Oxymoron

In an oxymoron, two contradictory ideas are put together side by side or in a sentence to create a good effect.

Example

Why, then, O brawling love? O loving hate! Oh anything, of nothing, first create!
O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
Still-waking sleep—that is not what it is!
This love feels like I feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh?

Here in the above lines, we can see how contradictory words are put together, like loving hate, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, and waking sleep. We can easily find many oxymoronic words in these lines.

Personification

It is a poetic device in which an animal, idea, or thing is given human characteristics. The non-human object is depicted as a human. We provide human quality to non-human things.

Examples

• “When well-appareled, April on the heel
  Of limping winter treads.”
• “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
  Is hung with blooms along the bough,
  And stands about the woodland ride.
  Wearing white for Eastertide.”
• “Have you got a brook in your little heart?
  Where bashful flowers blow,
  And blushing birds go down to drink.
  And shadows tremble so?”

Simile

A simile is a way of making a comparison. It shows the similarity between two opposite things. The simile uses words such as like or as to draw a comparison.

Examples

• “O my Luve’s like a red, red rose.
  That’s newly sprung in June;
  My Luve likes the melody
  That’s sweetly played in tune.”
• “Will there really be a morning?
  Is there such a thing as a day?
  Could I see it from the mountains?
  If I were as tall as they are,?
  Has it felt like water lilies?
  Has it feathers like a bird?
  Is it brought from famous countries?”

A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities between two different things. Unlike a metaphor, a simile draws resemblance with the help of the words “like” or “as.” Therefore, it is a direct comparison.

Paradox

It is a poetic device that uses contradictory or seemingly absurd statements to tell a larger truth. This device’s main purpose in poetry is to provoke the readers with their ideas and themes.

Examples:

• “I am both happy and sad at the same time, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”
• “In the twilight of dawn, the stars sparkled in the sky.”
• “In the vast emptiness of the universe, we search for meaning in our fleeting existence.”
• “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.”

Symbolism

Using different kinds of symbols while writing poems is known as symbolism. Places, objects, and actions—anything can be a symbol, which will add depth to the literal meaning of the poem.

• “O my Luve is like a red, red rose
• That’s newly sprung in June;
• O my Luve is like the melody
• That’s sweetly played in tune.

• So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
• So deep in luve am I;
• And I will luve thee still, my dear,
• Till a’ the seas gang dry.”

Pun

Pun refers to a joke or humorous play of words where the poet uses words with similar spellings but different meanings, or words with different spellings but almost similar meanings. It is also a device based on the interplay of homophones.

Rhetorical Question

the rhetorical question A poetic device is one in which a question is asked not to get an answer for it but rather to explain what you feel or to create a personalized effect on something. Have a look at the following example written by Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to understand this term better.

Example:

• If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?
• “What’s Montague? It is neither hand nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O be some other name. What’s in a name?”
• “You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “It’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
• “Nobody asked your opinion,” said Alice.
• “Who’s making personal remarks now?” the Hatter asked triumphantly.

3- Poetic Devices Based on Rhythm

Poetic devices following a poetic rhythm in every stanza to give meaning, and emotion is the third type of literary device used in poetry.

Rhyme

It is a repetition of words having the same sound at the end of a line in poems. It brings musicality to the poems. Rhyme differentiates poems from prose. It gives a pleasing effect to the poem. Children can easily recite and learn poems because of rhyme. Rhyme makes the poem more enjoyable and fun.

Examples

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Baa baa, black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full!

Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.

Repetition

It is a method where a certain phrase or words are repeatedly used to create stress among the readers so they can connect with your idea and emotions.

Example:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Caesura

It is a break or pause in the verse to allow one phrase to finish and another to begin, which helps in the natural flow of the sentence. The poet using the caesura device in their poetry helps to create a dramatic effect on readers.

It is for you we speak, || not for ourselves;

You are abused || and by some putter-on

That will be damn’d for’t; || would I knew the villain,

Poems are inspired by the correct usage of poetic devices. We hope that we have thoroughly discussed all the things related to these poetic devices and how to use them in literary works. Moreover, if you are a student who faces difficulty learning literature and performing well in your assignments and exams, you can pay someone to do your online class. We are sure that professional writers can assist you with all of your online classes and reduce your stress of completing assignments within deadlines and earn you good grades in them.

Poetic Devices: Poetic Form

The poetic form offers formal choices open to a poet, which helps them write different types of poems. In these kinds of poetic devices, words are arranged by the poet. These arrangements of verse give meaning to the poem and make it appealing. These arrangements are arbitrary and sometimes mechanical.

There might be different types of verse. However, they are all majorly divided into three types which are listed below. 

1- Fixed Verse

The name itself suggests that it has different restrictions, rules, and limitations. It follows the traditional setting in every stanza. There are different types of fixed-verse poems. They are:

• Ballad
• Haiku
• Limerick
• Lyric
• Ode
• Rondeau
• Vilanelle
• Sonnet

2- Free Verse

In this, a poem does not have a set meter, and no rhyming scheme is present. Also, the poem doesn’t have a set pattern. Often, poets use this to hide their fluctuating thoughts.

Example

After the ship—after the whistling winds;
After the white-grey sails, taut to their spars and ropes,
Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks,
Tending in ceaseless flow towards the track of the ship:
Waves of the ocean, bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,
Waves, undulating waves—liquid, uneven, emulous waves,
Towards that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves, where the great vessel, sailing and tacking, displaced the surface

3- Blank Verse

In blank verse, you will also not see the presence of the rhyming scheme. But it has iambic pentameter. The poet uses iambic pentameter to showcase larger-than-life events, and this creates a deep impact on the audience.

Example

“Sweet pet by day, hunter by night. She sleeps,
She eats; she plays. My feet are caught in white paws.
She’s up the fence, watching her prey—a bird.
Poor thing, better run quick, ’cause watch, she’ll pounce!
‘Cause one minute she’ll purr and smile, then snap!
She’ll spit and hiss—and, oh, surprise! A mouse.
He’s dead. A gift. Retracts her claws. Miaow!
A figure of eight between my legs looks up.
at me and purrs. The sound pulls at my heartstrings.

Rhyme Scheme in Poetic Devices

It is a pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of every verse in the poem. This structure of words used by poets gives rhyming effects. There are several types of rhyme schemes.

• Alternate rhyme:
• Ballade
• Monorhyme:
• Couplet
• Triplet
• Enclosed rhyme
• Terza Rima rhyme scheme
• Keats Odes rhyme scheme
• Limerick
• Villanelle

Examples

• The people along the sand
  Everyone turns and looks in the same direction.
  They turn their backs on the land.
  They look at the sea all day.
  As long as it takes to pass
  A ship keeps raising its hull;
  The wetter ground like glass
  Reflects a standing gull.

The rhyme scheme it follows is ABABCCDD.

• As I drew nearer to the end of all desire,
  I brought my longing’s ardor to a final height. ,
  Just as I ought. My vision, becoming pure,
  Entered more and more into the beam of that highlight.
  That shines on its own truth. From then, my seeing
  Became too large for speech, which fails at a sight…

Here, the rhyme scheme is ABABCB. This rhyme scheme is an example of terza rima tercet.

Conclusion

So moving towards the conclusion, let’s have a recall of the things we have discussed. We have started this blog with the definition of poetic devices and their purpose in poems and other literary works. In the next section of this blog post, we have discussed the three types of poetic devices: sound, meaning, and rhythm. Further, we have briefly discussed the different types of these devices and what they are, and we have also given examples to help you understand them. Thirdly, we have discussed three verses used in poetic devices. Last but not least, we have ended this blog post with a discussion of rhyme schemes in poems.

We understand that comprehending all of this might not be easy. If you find difficulty in making an assignment on poetry, then seek English homework help and easily earn top grades. Experts will provide you with the best assignments based on your work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is a verse in poetic devices? Answer 1:  Verse denotes a single line of a poem. In general, this term is also used for a stanza or a specific part of poetry. There are three types of verses. They are free verse, blank verse, and fixed verse.

Question 2: Is there a certain number of poetic devices? Answer 2: There are hundreds and thousands of different types of poetic devices that poets may use in their poetry. However, it has also been found that only a certain number of poetic devices are used, while others are never used for a long time.

Question 3: Which punctuation is used in poetic devices? Answer 3: Apostrophe, comma, exclamation mark, and question mark are the four types of punctuation that are used as tools of expression or artistic choice.