While writing poetry, a poet can make use of various devices which must:
● sound delightful to the ears.
● have an unanticipated but a right meaning.
● be arranged in different relationships to assist the reader.
● appear simple and unpretentious but should have the ability to probe the emotions of a reader.

Following are the poetic devices which have been divided under the given four points.

1. Sound of the Words

a) Alliteration:
Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines.
Example: fast and furious (the use of f is alliteration)

b) Assonance:
Repeated vowel sounds in words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines.
Example: Andrew patted the pony at Ascot. (the short 'a' sound in Andrew, patted and Ascot is assonance)

c) Consonance:
Repeated consonant sounds at the ending of words placed near each other, usually on the same or adjacent lines.
Example: cool soul (use of l is consonance)

d) Cacophony:
A discordant series of harsh, unpleasant sounds helps to convey disorder. This is often furthered by the combined effect of the meaning and the difficulty of pronunciation.
Example: I detest war because cause of war is always trivial. (use of because and cause together is unpleasant due to repetition of same sound)

e) Euphony:
A series of musically pleasant sounds, conveying a sense of harmony and beauty to the language.
Example: Silver bells! What a world of merriment their melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. (Excessive use of l and m sounds pleasant)

f) Onomatopoeia:
Words that sound like their meaning.
Example: buzz, tick tock, boom, pop, hiss etc.

g) Repetition:
The purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect.
Example: I was glad; so very, very glad.

h) Rhyme:
Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike, including the final vowel sound and everything following it, are said to rhyme.
Example: Enough and cough rhyme.

i) Rhythm:
The organization of verbal stresses into a regular pattern of accented syllables separated by unaccented syllables.
Example: i THOUGHT i SAW a PUSsyCAT. (The capitalized alphabets here represent the accented syllables)

2. Meaning of the words

a) Allegory:
A representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning.
Example: Truth hugged kindness and led her to paradise.

b) Allusion:
A brief reference to some person, historical event, work of art, or Biblical or mythological situation or character.
Example: Her diversity reminded me of Jazz age. (Jazz age is an allusion to 1920s)

c) Analogy:
A comparison, usually something unfamiliar with something familiar.
Example: Finding a good man is like finding a needle in a haystack.

d) Cliché:
Any figure of speech that was once clever and original but through overuse has become outdated.
Example: busy as a bee

e) Contrast:
Closely arranged things with strikingly different characteristics.
Example: He was dark, sinister, and cruel; she was radiant, pleasant, and kind.

f) Euphemism:
An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement; substituting something innocuous for something that might be offensive or hurtful.
Example: She is at rest. (meaning she's dead)

g) Hyperbole:
An outrageous exaggeration used for effect.
Example: He weighs a ton.

h) Irony:
A contradictory statement or situation to reveal a reality different from what appears to be true.
Example: Wow, thanks for expensive gift...let's see: did it come with a Fun Meal or the Burger King equivalent?

i) Metaphor:
A direct comparison between two unlike things, stating that one is the other or does the action of the other.
Example: He's a zero.

j) Oxymoron:
A combination of two words that appear to contradict each other.
Example: a pointless point of view; bittersweet

k) Paradox:
A statement in which a seeming contradiction may reveal an unexpected truth.
Example: The hurrier I go the behinder I get.

l) Personification:
Attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal, or abstract idea.
Example: The days crept by slowly.

m) Pun:
Word play in which words with totally different meanings have similar or identical sounds.
Example: Like a firefly in the rain, I'm de-lighted.

n) Simile:
A direct comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as."
Example: Her eyes are like comets.

o) Symbol:
An ordinary object, event, animal, or person to which we have attached extraordinary meaning and significance.
Example: Lion used as a symbol of courage.

3. Arrangement of the words

a) Point of view:
A writer can write in 1st, 2nd and 3rd person.

b) Stanza forms:
The names given to describe the number of lines in a stanzaic unit, such as: couplet (2), tercet (3), quatrain (4), quintet (5), sestet (6), septet (7), and octave (8).

c) Rhetorical Question:
A question solely for effect, which does not require an answer. By the implication the answer is obvious, it is a means of achieving an emphasis stronger than a direct statement.
Example: O, Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

d) Variety of forms (types):
A poet can adopt any type or form to represent his thoughts. A general over view of these types have been given in the previous chapter.

4. Images (Appearance) of the words

a) Imagery:
The use of vivid language to generate ideas and/or evoke mental images, not only of the visual sense, but of sensation and emotion as well.
Examples:
• Sight: Smoke mysteriously puffed out from the clown's ears.
• Sound: Tom placed his ear tightly against the wall; he could hear a faint but distinct thump thump thump.
• Touch: The burlap wall covering scraped against the little boy's cheek.
• Taste: A salty tear ran across onto her lips.
• Smell: Cinnamon! That's what wafted into his nostrils.

b) Synesthesia:
An attempt to fuse different senses by describing one kind of sense impression in words normally used to describe another.
Example: The sound of her voice was sweet.

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