After Blenheim : Poetic devices

After Blenheim Poetic Devices

1. Alliteration. It is a close repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words. Southey uses alliteration to enhance the rhythm of the poem. For instance,

"Now tell us what 'twas all about."

Young Peterkin, he cries: And little Wilhelmine looks up

With wonder-waiting eyes.

"Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for."

2. Irony- Irony is a statement or expression whose intended meaning is quite the contrary to the literal meaning. Situational irony occurs when something opposite to what's intended happens. It is ironical that the old man glorifies war by stating the outcome as "great victory for a nation at the cost of such ravages and destruction. The poet uses irony in the lines when Old Kasper says "But 'twas a famous victory and that it was a great victory" but he does not know why I could not well make out, and "Why that I cannot tell". No victory can come out of such civilian casualties and destroyed properties. The poet uses the terms like "famous victory" to enhance the sense of irony by emphasizing people's ignorance of the pointlessness of war.

3. Metonymy - Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is referred to by something that is closely associated with it. For instance,

In the line "And by him sported on the green", 'green' refers to the grassland. The poet associates green with grassland as the grass is green in color.

 4. Archaism- Archaism is the use of archaic or obsolete words which are presently not in use anymore. For instance, "Nay... nay... my little girl, quoth he"

5. Repetition. There is a repetition of the phrase "But things like

that, you know, must bet

After a famous victory" at the end of the 8th and the 9th stanza in

order to emphasize on the ignorance of old Kasper regarding the futility of war and his description of it as a "famous victory".