FIGURES OF SPEECH

A form of expression that used to

convey something
THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN
-Elizabeth Barret Browning
Elizabeth Barret Browning
March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861
 Elizabeth Barret Browning was born in
England.
 She was educated at home.
 She was a precious reader and writer.
 She started writing poems at her age 11.
 Her collection Poems (1844) caught the attention
of fellow poet Robert Browning, whose admiring
letter to her led to a lifelong romance and marriage.
 The couple moved to Italy, where Elizabeth became
interested in Italian politics and released her
monumental work, Sonnets From the Portuguese in
1850.
 THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN
"For oh," say the children, "we are weary,
      And we cannot run or leap —
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
      To drop down in them and sleep.
Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping —
   We fall upon our faces, trying to go ;
And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,
   The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.
For, all day, we drag our burden tiring,
      Through the coal-dark, underground —
Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron
      In the factories, round and round
"For all day, the wheels are droning, turning, —
  Their wind comes in our faces, —
Till our hearts turn, — our heads, with pulses burning,
And the walls turn in their places
Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling —
Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall, —
Turn the black flies that crawl along the ceiling —
 All are turning, all the day, and we with all ! —
And all day, the iron wheels are droning ;
And sometimes we could pray,
'O ye wheels,' (breaking out in a mad moaning)
'Stop ! be silent for to-day ! ' "
Summary of the poem:

 The children are working in the factories.

 They can’t run or leap, since they are tired.
 If the children go to the meadows, they will only
drop down and sleep.
 They can’t play because they are tired.
 They have to bend and to drive the iron wheels in
the factory.
 They keep on bending for a long time during
their work. So their knees tremble.
 Their eyelids are drooping because of
tiredness. They are working in the factory all the
day.
 Their pulses are burning. Their hearts, heads
and the walls of the factory also turn with the
wheels.
 Their prayer is to stop the wheels at least for a
day. They offer such a prayer to escape from the
tedious work.
LITERARY DEVICES USED IN

THIS POEM
 Alliteration
 Simile
 Metaphor
 Personification
 Onomatopoeia
 Anaphora
 Hyperbole
ALLITERATION:

 It is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in a

single line.

Example:

 For oh," say the children, "we are

weary,
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
SIMILE:

A simile shows the similarity between one thing and

another, and is generally introduced by the word ‘as’ or ‘like’
or ‘just as’.

Example:

The reddest flower would look as pale as snow

Here, the flower is compared to the snow.

METAPHOR:
A metaphor is an implied simile. That is, the word ‘as’
or ‘like’ is not used or needed. It compares the things without
using the connectivity.

Example:

 Through the coal-dark, underground —

Here, the factory is compared to

the dark underground.
ONOMATOPOEIA:

Onomatopoeia is the fact of words containing

sounds similar to the noises they describe.

Example:

The iron wheels are droning,

ANAPHORA:

It is the repetition of the same word in the

beginning of consecutive lines.

Example:

Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling —

Turns the long light that droppeth down the wall, —
HYPERBOLE:

A way of speaking or writing that makes

something sound better, more exciting or
dangerous, etc. than it really is.

Example:

Turns the sky in the high window blank and reeling —

PERSONIFICATION:

Personification is to give human qualities to

inanimate objects.

Example:

'O ye wheels,' (breaking out in a mad moaning)

'Stop ! be silent for to-day ! '

Here, the wheel is compared to human who can

stop or start..
By
V. Deepika (166)
II – B. A. English