Comment on the significance of the poetic devices used in the poem.
Several poetic devices/techniques have been used for significant effects. For instance, the diction is musical and full of sound effects. These are achieved the existence or alliterations such as: “his horn”, “sky-lark sings”, “the tender”, “shall…summer”, “we…what”, etc. In addition to repetitions, like “summer,” “bird”, “sing”, “nor”, “or”, “how”, “when”, emphasis is created to boost the tempo of the diction.
Another powerful device used in the poem is rhetorical question. This is used to achieve suspense, create anxiety and sustain the reader’s interest. Examples include:
“How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child when fear annoy
…and forget his youthful spring..?
How shall the summer arise in joy?
among others. These questions heighten the reader’s curiosity. Personification is used in the following examples:
“The sky lark sings with me”, the sky-lark is a bird and is not human to sing and accompany the speaker. “Plants are strip’d of joy”, human beings know about joy, not plants, “summer shall arise in joy”, summer is a season and knows no joy. Finally, there are metaphors to deepen the language such as: “Cruel eye”, “tender wings”, “tender plants” and “blasts of winter”. These devices enhance the poetic impact and meaning.