Identify Each Poetic Device in the Examples Below
Poetry Assessment
Identify each poetic device in the examples below.
1.When you, my Dear, are away, away, How wearily goes the day.
A year drags after morning, and night Starts another year
a. onomatopoeia
b. simile
c. hyperbole
2. Chicago is a city that is fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action.
a. simile
b. onomatopoeia
c. repetition
3. Drip—hiss—drip—hiss— fall the raindrops.
a. metaphor
b. onomatopoeia
c. simile
4. The fountain tossed its water,
Up and up, like silver marbles.
a. simile
b. hyperbole
c. symbol
5. Falstaff sweats to death, as he walks along;
a. rhyme
b. metaphor
c. hyperbole
6. The tear-drop trickled to his chin: There was a meaning in her grin
a. hyperbole
b. rhyme
c. simile
7. All night long with rush and lull
The rain kept drumming on the roof:
a. simile
b. personification
c. rhyme
8. The child with /her infinite energy /
would run /her parents to /the ground
a. metaphor
b. simile
c. hyperbole
9. My love is like a red, red rose.
a. personification
b. onomatopoeia
c. metaphor
10. When the stooping sky / Leans down upon the hills
a. hyperbole
b. personification
c. metaphor
The Village BlacksmithHenry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)
UNDER a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arm / 5
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate’er he can, / 10
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, / 15
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door; / 20
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly,
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church, / 25
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter’s voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice. / 30
It sounds to him like her mother’s voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes / 35
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close; / 40
Something attempted, something done.
Has earned a night’s repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life / 45
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
Answer the following questions using “The Village Blacksmith.”
11. In lines 35-36, why does the author use the imagery of “Hard, rough hand” and “a tear out of his eyes” to describe the blacksmith?
a. to show that the blacksmith had difficult life, leaving his hands very rough
b. to show that his rough hands made him cry
c. to contrast the tough image of the blacksmith with the soft image of a lonely man
12. What conclusion can you draw about the blacksmith’s wife?
a. She lives in another town.
b. She has died.
c. She is at home.
13. Read the lines 45-46: “at the flaming forge of life/ Our fortunes must be wrought”. What idea does the forge symbolism in the poem?
a. Luck decides whether or not there will be a fire.
b. We shape our lives the way a blacksmith shapes metal.
c. Life is full of heat and fire.
14. The phrase “his…arms/ Are strong as iron bands” is an example of
a. metaphor
b. hyperbole
c. a simile
15. Identify the rhyme scheme in the stanza below.
UNDER a spreading chestnut-treeThe village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arm
Are strong as iron bands.
a. ABABCB
b. AABBCC
c. ABABAB
Haiku
By Muso Soseki
Over the wintry
Forest, winds howl in a rage
With no leaves to blow.
Answer the following questions using “Haiku.”
16. What makes this poem a haiku?
a. It has three lines.
b. It has a syllable pattern of 5, 7, 5
c. It uses imagery to describe nature
d. All of the above.
17. What is the personification in this poem?
A. It is winter in the forest.
b. The winds cry angrily.
c. There are no more leaves.
“The Sea”by James Reeves
The sea is a hungry dog.
Giant and gray.
He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And “Bones, bones, bones!”
The giant sea dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.
And when the night wind roars
And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long and loud.
But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.
Answer the following questions using “The Sea.”
18. “The sea is a hungry dog” (line 1) is an example of which type of figurative language?
a. metaphor
b. hyperbole
c. symbol
19. The author uses alliteration at the end of the 3rd stanza (line 20) to-
a. provide an image of the sea
b. call attention to the quiet setting of the sea
c. emphasize the noise that the sea makes
20. Which tone (feeling) is evoked by the imagery of the dog of the last stanza?
a. a quiet, peaceful tone
b. a lively and happy tone
c. rough and angry tone
21. Which best conveys the author’s purpose for writing “The Sea”?
a. to entertain the reader with a vivid depiction of the sea
b. to persuade the reader to visit the sea
c. to inform the reader of information related to oceans
22. If “The Sea” were given another title, which would best represent the central idea or meaning of the poem?
a. “Circle of Noise”
b. “The Ferocious Sea”
c. “Sea of Calm”
Shadow March
by Robert Louis Stevenson
It stares through the window-pane;
It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,
And it moves with the moving flame.
Now my little heart goes a beating like a drum,
With the breath of the Bogies in my hair;
And all around the candle and the crooked shadows come,
And go marching along up the stair.
The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,
The shadow of the child that goes to bed--
All the wicked shadows coming tramp, tramp, tramp,
With the black night overhead.
Answer the following questions using “Shadow March.”
23. The “it” in the first stanza refers to
a. the child
b. the child’s heart
c. the night
24. Based on the connotations of the words describing the night shadows such as crawls, hiding, crooked, and wicked, what is the speaker’s attitude toward the shadows?
a. He enjoys the calmness of nighttime.
b. He is frightened by the night shadows which seem evil.
c. He is trying to go up the stairs but they are crooked.
Open Response
Answer on your answer sheet.
25. In this passage, the author uses various poetic devices, or techniques, to express the speaker’s feelings about nighttime. The speaker of this poem is a child.
A. Describe the speaker’s attitude or feelings towards nighttime.
B. Identify two examples of different poetic devices used in the passage. Explain how the examples you chose help support the child’s feelings about nighttime.