"There is no frigate like a book"

The poem "There is no frigate like a book" by Emily Dickinson uses two main literary devices that add to its effect and help to accomplish its purpose. That purpose is to honor or acknowledge the power that a book has and the adventures on which it can take the reader. The important literary devices that Emily Dickinson makes use of in this poem are denotation and connotation and figurative language. In the first few line she uses both of these tools. It says, "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away." This is a simile because she is comparing two unlike things, a book and a frigate using the word like. Dickinson could have used many different words instead of frigate that mean some type of boat or ship. For example, ship, yacht, canoe, and raft all could have been used by Dickinson. But, she picked frigate because the connotation of the word is perfect to describe the nature of a book. A frigate literally means a naval vessel or ship. That implies that it is something adventurous, just like a book is. Also, a frigate can pretty much go anywhere and with one order from the admiral it could be headed to the other side of the world. This is just like how a book can take the reader anywhere in the universe with the flip of a page. Frigates also serve a very specific purpose, to protect the country. Many books have a specific purpose to them as well. The comparisons or relationships between a frigate and a book are endless which is exactly why Dickinson chooses that word. Later in the poem Dickinson uses another comparison, a metaphor, to describe a book. It reads, "How frugal is the chariot that bears the human soul!" The main focus of these two lines is the word chariot. Dickinson could have stuck with her comparison between a book and a frigate, but instead she changes it this time. This is so she can cover land as well as sea. Books can take the reader anywhere and between the chariot and the frigate there is really no place that is not covered. The chariot also implies something adventurous and majestic and also for the most part has a specific purpose, just like a book does. Emily Dickinson uses figurative language to compare a book to things that at first glance seem completely unrelated. But, after thinking about the connotations of her words such as frigate and chariot, the reader is able to truly understand her thoughts and experience the adventures that can be found in a book.

"The Man He Killed"

Thomas Hardy's work "The Man He Killed" is one that engages the reader and causes the reader to think about what its words mean. This poem involves the thoughts of a soldier who had enlisted in the army and killed another man. Thomas Hardy's words allows the reader to experience the same feeling as this soldier was having. Instead of looking at war from far away, or in other words just the idea that two countries are fighting with one another, Hardy looks at the actual people that are being affected and killed. He questions the legitimacy of war by examining two men and questioning why one dies but not the other when they are both essentially equal. At the beginning of the poem, Hardy describes what the relationship between the two men would have been if they were not at war against one another. He says that if they had met at an inn, "We should have set us down to wet". This means that they would have sat down at a bar together and had a good time together, instead of being enemies. Then, later he says, "And staring face to face, I shot him as he at me." The line in which he says they both stared at each other suggests that these two men might have some sort of connection. As it turns out these men are in very similar situations. But, because they are at war and enemies just because their respective countries are fighting, they must fire at each other even though they personally do not have anything against each other. The next stanza shows how the killer tries to justify what he has done because on the inside he feels guilty. He says "I shot him dead because-", but then he does not finish the sentence. This is because he has no legitimate reason to kill this man. He goes on and tries to convince himself that this man was his "foe". Of course this is no reason to kill a man because they have never even met. There is no way he can be his foe, other than the fact that he belongs to a different country. This is incredible poetry by Hardy because he captures the feeling of guilt in al humans. Anyone would feel guilty after killing a man so they must justify their action with something. In the next stanza Hardy compares the two man and it is clear that they are both in similar situations. They were both poor and probably hard working men because they were both out of work. The other man had just sold his traps to make a little money. This just strengthens the fact that neither man deserves to die in war. Here are these two hard working poor men that get sent off to war. One of them lives and the other dies at war. The last stanza questions the curiousness of war. He says "You shoot a fellow down you'd treat, if met where any bar is." He means that in war people shoot each other that under other circumstances outside of war might sit down at a bar together and befriend one another. In other words, it is not the two men that have anything against each other, but war puts these men in a situation where they have no choice but to kill one another. This work by Thomas Hardy really caused me to think about the irrationality of war and how so many people lose their lives for illegitimate reasons. He is able to accomplish this feeling just by the words and punctuation that he has evidently mastered.

Shakespeare Captures the Feeling

William Shakespeare's poem Spring is one that engages the reader and gives the feeling of spring just by simply reading it. One reason for this is the imagery created by Shakespeare. By choosing effective words he is able to paint a picture in the reader's head. This allows Shakespeare to engage the five senses of taste, smell, touch, sound, and sight. He is able to capture the very esssence of spring in every manner possible. For example, in the line "When daisies pied and violets blue," the reader is able to imagine that beautiful sight and see it in their head. Shakespeare creates an atmosphere as if the reader is actually there on a nice spring day. Just the three words, "When turtles tread," paints a vivid picture in my head. I imagine a pond on a beautiful day with the flowers and turtles swimming around in the middle. He also provides the reader with the sound of spring by referring to the song of a cuckoo. By using fantastic word choice and incredible realism Shakespeare is able to illustrate a clear picture of what the essence of spring truly is and bring that feeling into his work and allow the reader to experience it.