Wednesday, December 17, 2014

What are the poetic devices Poe uses in stanza 8 of "The Raven"?

Here is the stanza you're asking about:

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into
          smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance
          it wore,
“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I
          said, “art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from
          the Nightly shore—
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s
          Plutonian shore!”
     Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

Here are a few of the devices Poe uses in this stanza:

alliteration: shorn and shaven, Ghastly and grim. There are a few more for you to find.

allusion: Plutonian refers to Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld

personification: ravens can't talk, but Poe's raven does

rhyme: Poe uses not only end of line rhyme but also internal rhyme, meaning that words in the same line rhyme. I'll let you find those for yourself.

Hope this helps!


 

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