Poetic+Devices

Opposite of underestimate Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. He's as big as a house.
 * Hyperbole:** is exaggeration or overstatement.


 * Satire:** a literary tone used to ridicule or make fun of human vice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing, the subject of the satiric attack.The literary art of ridiculing a folly or vice in order to expose or correct it. The object of satire is usually some human frailty; people, institutions, ideas, and things are all fair game for satirists. Satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it. See also irony, parody.

In cliches: sweet smell of success, a dime a dozen, bigger and better, jump for joy Wordsworth: And sings a solitary song That whistles in the wind.
 * Alliteration:** is the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words. Example:

also imitative harmony Example: splash, wow, gush, kerplunk
 * Onomatopoeia:** is a word that imitates the sound it represents.

Example: go/show/glow/know/though
 * Rhythm & Rhyme:** is a pattern of words that contain similar sounds.

hot ice, cold fire, wise fool, sad joy, eloquent silence, satirical oxymoron: Military intelligence Great Britain (this was offered by a citizen from UK)
 * Oxymoron:** is putting two contradictory words together.Examples:

Example: He is a pig. Thou art sunshine.
 * Metaphor:** comparison of two unlike things using the verb "to be" and not using like or as as in a simile.


 * Malapropism:** is an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, esp. by the confusion of words that are similar in sound.

Example: hot is to cold as fire is to ice OR hot:cold::fire:ice
 * Analogy:** is the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship. The key is to ascertain the relationship between the first so you can choose the correct second pair. Part to whole, opposites, results of are types of relationships you should find.


 * Euphemism:** is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener;[1] or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker.[citation needed] It also may be a substitution of a description of something or someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended to be funny.

Example: Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn....
 * Repetition:** of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern is a basic unifying device in all poetry

An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. Example: Stephen Vincent Benet's story "By the Waters of Babylon" contains a direct reference to Psalm 137 in the Bible.
 * Allusion:** is a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or ficticious, or to a work of art. Casual reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event.

Example: a smiling moon, a jovial sun
 * Personification:** is giving human qualities to animals or objects.

Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Example: I have found the Ekphrasis poetry very useful in treaching allegory.
 * Allegory:** is a form of extended metaphor, in which objects, persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated with the meanings that lie outside the narrative itself. The underlying meaning has moral, social, religious, or political significance, and characters are often personification of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy.