Figurative Language in Literature

What literary device is being used in this example:

"When the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd heaven with their tears"

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Hyperbole

Answer explanation

Stars don't have spears or tears. Those are human qualities given to non-human things, which is personification.

What literary device is being used in this example:

"The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor."

• simile

• metaphor

• oxymoron

• hyperbole

Answer explanation

The moon is being compared to a galleon (ship), and the road is compared to a ribbon of moonlight, without using "like" or "as"

What literary device is being used in this example:

"Like burnt out torches by a sick man's bed,

gaunt cypress trees stand 'round."

• simile

• metaphor

• anthropomorphism

• allusion

Answer explanation

The cypress trees are being compared to torches using "like."

What literary device is being used in this example:

"I do not care to talk to you although

Your speech evokes a thousand sympathies,"

• hyperbole

• Simile

• pun

• analogy

Answer explanation

To speaker is exaggerating the number of sympathies given.

What literary device is being used in this example:

"The sun was shining on the sea, / Shining with all his might"

• metaphor

• Simile

• analogy

• personification

Answer explanation

The sun is given human qualities.

What literary device is being used in this example:

"The leaves are little yellow fish

swimming in the river."

• metaphor

• Simile

• allusion

• hyperbole

Answer explanation

The leaves are being compared to fish without using "like" or "as."

What literary device is being used in this example:

"The stars in the sky,

Exist but to light your passing feet."

• allusion

• Simile

• hyperbole

• personification

Answer explanation

It is an exaggeration to claim that the stars exist to light a person's steps.

What literary device is being used in this example:

"They only know our love was brief,

And passing like an autumn leaf."

• metaphor

• oxymoron

• hyperbole

• simile

Answer explanation

Their love is being compared to an autumn leaf using "like."

What literary device is being used in this example:

"The stones of the field are sharp as steel."

• oxymoron

• Simile

• pun

• metaphor

Answer explanation

Stones are compared to steel using "as."

What literary device is being used in this example:

"People call me the Tiger Woods of miniature golf."

• oxymoron

• Simile

• pun

• allusion

Answer explanation

Tiger Woods, a famous pro-golfer, is alluded to in this example.