Studium: Literary Devices

Discuss the significance of literary devices like figures of speech, connotations, etc. in achieving aesthetic and intellectual value of a particular poetry.

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life.

A quote from John Keating, played by Robbie Williams, in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society encapsulates the reason why poetry is essential for survival. Humans are passionate and adore their profession, their family, and their God. Poets used literary devices, connotations, etc. to express those burning desires using words for the eyes and the ears. Literary devices help to create and accentuate the meter, rhythm, and sounds of a poem1 when using alliteration, anagram, assonance, and onomatopoeia, to say the least. These techniques not only aid both the author and the reader, remember the poem easily but also add an element of fun and aesthetics. An example is from a poem, Awit ng Hangin by Rufino Alejandro,

Ang awit ng Kalikasan At awit ng Katauhan –

May sandaling kaylalambing, kaylalamyos, kaygagaslaw,

At kung minsan, oh, kung minsan, kaylulungkot, kaypapanglaw!

The poet used a few figures of speech mainly alliteration in ka– and kay–, assonance in –an and –law, personification in awit ng Kalikasan through the climax from lambing (tenderness) to gaslaw (flirtation) and from lungkot (sadness) to panglaw (melancholy). Literary devices also add dimensions and layers of meaning such as allusion, simile, metaphor, metonymy, personification, and synecdoche, to say the least. These add intellectual value to the poem. It also helps the reader view the poem in a multifaceted way, either sociological, historical, cultural, historical, or political. These figures of speech add weight and depth of knowledge that the readers can explore and relate to. An example is from the poem, Kabayanihan by Lope K. Santos,

Pawis, yaman, dunong, lakas, dugo, buhay…

pinupuhunan mo at iniaalay,

kapagka ibig mong sa kaalipinan

ay makatubos ka ng aliping bayan.

The poet employed several figures of speech such as symbolism in pawis (hardwork), dugo (sacrifice), climax in the first line from pawis (hardwork) to buhay (life), and oxymoron in pinupuhunan mo at inaalay (you capitalize and sacrifice), and ay makatubos ka ng aliping bayan (you can redeem a slave town). Assonance is also present in buhay and inaalay, kaalipinan and bayan.

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Reference:

1 Literary Terms. Literary Devices. (2019, Nov 6). Retrieved from Literary Devices: http://www.literary-devices.com

2 Awit ng Hangin Tula ni Rufino Alejandro. (2020, November 21). Retrieved from Kapig Bisig: https://www.kapitbisig.com/philippines/poems-written-at-different-times-by-various-authors-awit-ng-hangin-tula-ni-rufino-alejandro_1078.html

3 Literary Devices. (2017, May 1). Retrieved from Literary Device: https://www.literarydevices.com/

4 Kabayanihan Tula ni Lope K. Santos. (2020, November 21). Retrieved from Kapig Bisig: https://www.kapitbisig.com/philippines/poems-written-at-different-times-by-various-authors-kabayanihan-tula-ni-lope-k-santos_1080.html