T.S. Eliot's Poetical Devices T.S. Eliot was one of the great early 20th Century poets. He wrote many poems throughout his career including "The Waste Land"(1922), "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"(1917), and "Ash Wednesday"(1930). Throughout his poems, he uses the same poetic devices to express emotion and give an added depth to his poetry and act like a trademark in his works. One of the devices used throughout is his personification of nature. The second device he often uses is allusions to Greek mythology, Greek plays, and the Christian bible. Finally, the last device he often uses is imagery of death. Throughout the poems mentioned above this is especially apparent as it makes them all seem identifiable to his style. T. S. …show more content…

The passage may be translated: "Blazing torches hang from the gold-panelled ceiling [laquearibus aureis], and torches conquer the night with flames." Virgil is describing the banquet given by Dido, queen of Carthage, for Aeneas, with whom she fell in love."

Since Carthage played a large role in mythology and human history, it is an allusion showing that this poetic device was used in this particular poem. The second example comes from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." It reads, "Have known the evenings, mornings, and afternoons." This quote is an allusion the play Oedipus Rex where the sphinx asks Oedipus to answer a riddle and the riddle is what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening. The answer is man because the time of day is in reference to life morning being when a baby is learning how to walk but is forced to crawl, afternoon being the middle of life, and the evening is near the end of life when humans are forced to use a cane to assist them in walking. This is an allusion because it references the old Greek play Oedipus Rex that is based on Greek mythology. The final example comes from the poem "Ash Wednesday" where Eliot refers to the bible, "To the posterity of the desert." The desert played an important part in Christianity, as it is part of the Old Testament where the Jewish