Metaphor: Comparing one thing to another without using "like" or "as."
* From "The Golden Gate": "The city, a ship, sails on." (Compares San Francisco to a ship)
* From "The River": "Time, that river, flows away." (Compares time to a river)
Simile: Comparing one thing to another using "like" or "as."
* From "Mapping the World": "The map, like a vast, forgotten tapestry..." (Compares the map to a tapestry)
* From "The Humble Administrator's Garden": "The stones are like the teeth of the old lion..." (Compares the stones to the teeth of a lion)
Personification: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract concepts.
* From "The Golden Gate": "The fog creeps in, a silent thief..." (Gives human qualities to fog)
* From "The River": "The river whispers secrets to the shore." (Gives human qualities to the river)
Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
* From "The Golden Gate": "The silence sighs, the shadows stretch..." (Repetition of "s" sound)
* From "The River": "The rushing river, rapid and red..." (Repetition of "r" sound)
Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds within words.
* From "The Golden Gate": "The sun sets slowly, sinking low..." (Repetition of "o" sound)
* From "The River": "The river flows, forever flowing..." (Repetition of "o" sound)
Imagery: Use of vivid language to create images in the reader's mind.
* From "The Golden Gate": "The city, a shimmering jewel..." (Creates a vivid image of the city)
* From "The River": "The river's surface, a mirror reflecting the sky..." (Creates a vivid image of the river)
Symbolism: Using objects or concepts to represent something else.
* The river in many of Seth's poems symbolizes the passage of time and the flow of life.
* The golden gate in "The Golden Gate" symbolizes a new beginning and opportunity.
Other Devices:
* Oxymoron: Contradictory terms placed side-by-side (e.g., "living death")
* Hyperbole: Exaggeration for emphasis (e.g., "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse")
* Metonymy: Using a related term to represent something else (e.g., "the crown" to represent the monarchy)
* Synecdoche: Using a part to represent the whole (e.g., "wheels" to represent a car)
These figures of speech help Seth to create rich, evocative, and multi-layered poems that engage the reader on multiple levels.
To truly understand the impact of figures of speech in Vikram Seth's poems, it's best to read his work and analyze the individual poems themselves.