Bécquer’s Rimas and Leyendas: Themes and Characters
Bécquer’s Poetic and Narrative Style
Key Poetic Devices in Bécquer’s Work
- Parallelism: Repetition of the same syntactic structure in verses.
- Anaphora: Repetition of a word at the beginning of several verses.
- Correlation: Reciprocal correspondence between two or more series of concepts or words.
- Epiphonema: Exclamatory sentence or reflection summarizing the preceding idea, often at the end.
- Symbolist Poetry: Uses images, metaphors, or symbols to embody the poet’s sentiments.
Analysis of Bécquer’s Rimas
Rimas
Read MoreMastering English Vowel Sounds: Pronunciation and Spelling
English Vowel Sounds: Pronunciation and Spelling
Description and spelling of the English vowels:
1 – /iː/
Description: Front of the tongue raised to a height slightly below and behind the close front position. Lips spread, tongue tense, side rims making firm contact with the upper molars.
- Does not normally occur in a syllable closed by a long ‘n’.
Spelling:
- ee (green)
- ea (mean)
- i (machine)
**Also occurs in plurals of nouns: analyses, bases, theses
2 – /ɪ/
Description: Part of the tongue nearer to the center
Read MoreDaisy Miller: Chapter 3 Analysis – Character Relationships
Chapter 3
Analysis
Chapter 3 begins with a literary joke. In a letter to Winterbourne asking him to come and visit her in Rome, Mrs. Costello passes on some gossip about Daisy and, in the same paragraph, asks Winterbourne to bring her a copy of Victor Cherbuliez’s Paule Méré, a novel that bears a striking resemblance to Daisy Miller in several ways. Like James’s novel, Paule Méré takes its title from the name of its heroine and concerns a spirited, independent-minded young woman whose unchaperoned
Read MoreBeowulf: Context, Poetic Style, Structure, and Christianity
Beowulf: Historical Context
The Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian peoples had invaded the island of Britain and settled there several hundred years earlier, bringing with them several closely related Germanic languages that would evolve into Old English. Elements of the Beowulf story—including its setting and characters—date back to the period before the migration. The action of the poem takes place around 500 A.D. Many of the characters in the poem—the Swedish and Danish royal family members, for
Yeats’ Mystical Poems: Love and Symbolism
The Song of Wandering Aengus
W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) – Irish Literature
“The Song of Wandering Aengus” (1899) reflects Yeats’s deep interest in mythology and mysticism. The poem tells the story of Aengus, who encounters a magical transformation. A fish he is cooking turns into a “glimmering girl” with apple blossoms in her hair. She calls him by name and then vanishes into the light.
Though old and weary from searching for her, Aengus remains determined. He dreams of finding her, kissing her, and being
Read MoreUnderstanding the Poet’s Emotions and Symbolism
Understanding the Poet’s Emotions and Symbolism
Questions & Answers on Poetic Extracts
Extract 1
(a) What has been compared to a late winter’s moon?
Ans. The narrator’s aging mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon.
(b) Why has the comparison been made?
Ans. The narrator’s mother looked old, frail, and very pale, like the moon in late winter. Hence, the comparison.
(c) Identify the poetic device in the lines.
Ans. The poetic device used in the line ‘as a late winter’s moon’ is a simile.
(d)