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Difficulty: MediumAnalysis of Prescribed Non-African Poems

Read the extract below from William Shakespeare's prescribed non-African poem "Sonnet 18":

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;"

Which literary device is primarily employed in the phrase "the eye of heaven" to represent the sun?

  1. MetaphorAnswer
  2. B
    Simile
  3. C
    Oxymoron
  4. D
    Assonance

Answer

The literary device primarily employed in the phrase "the eye of heaven" is a metaphor.
The phrase "the eye of heaven" is a metaphor because it creates an indirect, implicit comparison between the sun and a celestial eye watching over the earth, without using connective terms such as 'like' or 'as'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the extract and identify the expression under scrutiny.
The expression "the eye of heaven" refers directly to the sun.
The poet uses the phrase as a figurative substitution to describe the sun's appearance and role in the sky.
2
Examine the mechanism of comparison used in the phrase.
The sun is implicitly compared to an eye observing the earth from heaven without using connective words like 'as' or 'like'.
An implicit comparison that substitutes one concept for another is the defining characteristic of a metaphor.

Key Concept

Metaphor in Poetic Imagery
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Topics

Analysis of Prescribed Non-African Poems

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