Monday, August 18, 2014

What are the figures of speech in "My Heart Leaps Up"?

Lines 3-5 are an example of anaphora, a device where sucessive phrases begin with the same or similar words:


So was it when my life began, / So is it now I am a man, / So be it when I shall grow old / Or let me die!


Subsequently, line six is an example of hyperbole, or an overstatment that emphasizes an idea but is not meant to be taken literally.


Finally, in line 7 we see a paradoxical statement: "The child is the father of the man". This statement appears to contradict itself until the reader realizes that Wordsworth is speaking figuratively and not literally.

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