I saw this post on Reels the other day,:“10 Poetic Devices You Should Know.”
I know two of them. LOL. I know of a third one, though not as a “poetic device," but as a perceptual phenomenon. Interestingly, for that particular “device,” Synesthesia (#6), the person who put this list together used a line from Dickinson as an example: "With Blue -- uncertain -- stumbling buzz" (from "I heard a Fly buzz when I died").
I know two of them. LOL. I know of a third one, though not as a “poetic device," but as a perceptual phenomenon. Interestingly, for that particular “device,” Synesthesia (#6), the person who put this list together used a line from Dickinson as an example: "With Blue -- uncertain -- stumbling buzz" (from "I heard a Fly buzz when I died").
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I remember I first heard of synesthesia, the neurological trait, when I learned of American composer Michael Torke. He has reported that he composed his orchestral work “Bright Blue Music” because he sees the key of D major as bright blue.
About the work – and his compositional process – Torke said this:
Inspired by Wittgenstein's idea that meaning is not in words themselves, but in the grammar of the words used, I conceived of a parallel in musical terms: harmonies in themselves do not contain meaning; rather, musical meaning results only from the way harmonies are used. Harmonic language is then, in a sense, inconsequential. If the choice of harmony is arbitrary, why not use the simplest, most direct, and (for me) most pleasurable: I and V chords; tonic and dominant. Once this decision was made and put in the back of my mind, an unexpected freedom of expression followed. With the simplest means, my musical emotions and impulses were free to guide me. Working was exuberant: I would leave my outdoor studio and the trees and bushes seemed to dance, and the sky seemed a bright blue.
That bright blue color contributed towards the piece's title, but in conjunction with another personal association. The key of D major, the key of this piece (from which there is no true modulation) has been the color blue for me since I was five years old.
Listen to "Bright Blue Music" HERE.
About the work – and his compositional process – Torke said this:
Inspired by Wittgenstein's idea that meaning is not in words themselves, but in the grammar of the words used, I conceived of a parallel in musical terms: harmonies in themselves do not contain meaning; rather, musical meaning results only from the way harmonies are used. Harmonic language is then, in a sense, inconsequential. If the choice of harmony is arbitrary, why not use the simplest, most direct, and (for me) most pleasurable: I and V chords; tonic and dominant. Once this decision was made and put in the back of my mind, an unexpected freedom of expression followed. With the simplest means, my musical emotions and impulses were free to guide me. Working was exuberant: I would leave my outdoor studio and the trees and bushes seemed to dance, and the sky seemed a bright blue.
That bright blue color contributed towards the piece's title, but in conjunction with another personal association. The key of D major, the key of this piece (from which there is no true modulation) has been the color blue for me since I was five years old.
Listen to "Bright Blue Music" HERE.
The two poetic elements from the list with which I am familiar by name are Assonance (#1) and Metonymy (#7).
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The “Glossary of Poetic Terms” on the Poetry Foundation’s site offered two examples of assonance from poems by Amy Lowell:
“In a Garden”: “With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur”
“The Taxi”: “And shout into the ridges of the wind”
However, to truly immerse yourself in an experience of assonance, you can’t beat “Vowel Movements” by Daryl Hine. Check out the long “a” sound in just the first four lines of the poem:
Take a statement, the same as yesterday’s dictation:
Lately pain has been there waiting when I awake.
Creative despair and failure have made their patient.
Anyway, I’m afraid I have nothing to say.
Concerning “metonymy,” examples are everywhere:
"The White House" refers to the U.S. President or their administration; "Hollywood" stands for the entire American film and television industry; "Suits" is used to describe corporate businesspeople, and "Wall Street" refers to the U.S. financial and investment community.
A closely related figure of speech is “synecdoche,” where a part of something stands for the whole; for example, “I’ve got wheels” for “I have a car,” or a description of a worker as a “hired hand” – or “all hands on deck.”
“In a Garden”: “With its leaping, and deep, cool murmur”
“The Taxi”: “And shout into the ridges of the wind”
However, to truly immerse yourself in an experience of assonance, you can’t beat “Vowel Movements” by Daryl Hine. Check out the long “a” sound in just the first four lines of the poem:
Take a statement, the same as yesterday’s dictation:
Lately pain has been there waiting when I awake.
Creative despair and failure have made their patient.
Anyway, I’m afraid I have nothing to say.
Concerning “metonymy,” examples are everywhere:
"The White House" refers to the U.S. President or their administration; "Hollywood" stands for the entire American film and television industry; "Suits" is used to describe corporate businesspeople, and "Wall Street" refers to the U.S. financial and investment community.
A closely related figure of speech is “synecdoche,” where a part of something stands for the whole; for example, “I’ve got wheels” for “I have a car,” or a description of a worker as a “hired hand” – or “all hands on deck.”
| There are, of course, the other seven elements – though I don’t have time this morning to discuss them all. Therefore, for now, I’ll post below what was included on the Reels so you can see them all, and then at some point in the future I’ll get back to the ones I haven't covered. NOTE: Click the images to enlarge. I do have one post coming tomorrow, but then there will be a break in daily doses of Dickinson until about July 17 – so I’ll return to the “10 Poetic Devices You Should Know” around that time. |  |
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