Why is apostrophe used in poems

Do you intuit a missing person or thing? Queen Isabelle: He hath forgotten me; stay, I am his mother. Second Lord: That boots not; therefore, gentle madam, go. Queen Isabelle: Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief. In this scene, Queen Isabelle directly addresses death.

Instead, it is a literary device that helps the writer accomplish a goal. As in the example above, one of the speakers turns away from addressing another character or the audience and instead addresses a third party. In poetry, the party is often an abstract concept such as love, hate, or freedom. Apostrophe There is also some debate about whether all direct addresses from a writer to that writer's audience, sometimes known as "authorial intrusion," counts as a form of apostrophe.

Beaudelaire's poem "To The Reader" may therefore be considered an example of apostrophe, because Beaudelaire describes the reader and makes him come to life, addressing him directly at the end: There's one more damned than all. Apostrophe in Elegies, Odes, and Other Poetic Forms A number of poetic forms are closely associated with apostrophes, such that these sorts of poems, more often than not, contain apostrophe. In "Elegy for Jane," Roethke addresses Jane directly in the last stanza: If only I could nudge you from this sleep My maimed darling, my skittery pigeon.

An ode, like an elegy, usually praises and describes its subject, as in Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," in which he addresses his subject directly, from his opening line: Thou wast not made for death, immortal Bird!

Apostrophe Examples Examples of Apostrophe in Literature Apostrophe is found throughout literature: it appears in poetry, prose, and drama, and across all eras from ancient Greek epic poetry through modern times. Apostrophe in The Odyssey One of the earliest and most famous examples of apostrophe in literature comes from Homer, who begins both The Iliad and The Odyssey with an invocation of the Muse.

The Odyssey begins with the following lines, which ask the Muse, a goddess of the arts, to help the author in his work: Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy.

Apostrophe in Shakespeare's Macbeth Apostrophe pops up all over the place in Shakespeare, as his characters often address abstract ideas or inanimate objects while onstage. In Macbeth , while Macbeth is struggling with whether to follow through with a planned murder, he sees an apparition of a dagger and addresses it: Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Apostrophe in Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" The works of Romantic poets of the nineteenth century, who were steeped in Greek poetry and myth, are also filled with apostrophe.

In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Keats speaks to a beautiful ancient vase, addressing it as a bride, a child, and a historian, and also as a kind of Muse, who, if it could speak, would write more eloquently than Keats himself: Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme Apostrophe in Woolf's The Waves The modernist writer Virginia Woolf, who wrote in the early 20th century, also regularly used apostrophe in as part of the "stream of consciousness" that she often created for her characters.

Here, in Woolf's The Waves, one character, Rhoda, cries out in anger to "human beings": What dissolution of the soul you demanded in order to get through one day, what lies, bowings, scrapings, fluency and servility! Examples of Apostrophe in Song Lyrics Many different genres of music make use of apostrophe, as it creates a direct emotional attachment between the singer and his or her subject.

Apostrophe in "Do You Remember Walter? G Can't wait til that day, when I see your face again Apostrophe in "The Banks O' Doon" by Robert Burns In an old Scottish folk song whose lyrics were composed by Robert Burns, the speaker addresses a river called Doon: Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon How ye can bloom so fresh and fair How can ye chant ye little birds And I sae weary fu' o' care Apostrophe in "Princess Leia" by Blink Here the punk band Blink sings to a girl, who seems to be more of a fantasy girl than a real person, and whom they call Princess Leia: Princess Leia, where are you tonight?

Other Helpful Apostrophe Resources The Wikipedia entry on apostrophe: on apostrophe: short and sweet, with a bunch of good examples. A dictionary definition of apostrophe : This definition covers both the punctuation mark and the figure of speech. It also provides a brief etymology of the word. Macbeth's apostrophe to the dagger: Macbeth, played by Patrick Stewart, addresses his vision of a dagger.

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Instant PDF downloads. Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. Home About Story Contact Help. Blow out your candles, Laura — and so good-bye. This indicates that, though Tom has physically escaped his mother and sister, he is still tethered to them psychologically and emotionally.

Tom speaks directly to Laura, though she is not there. They put Sofia to work in the prison laundry. All day long from five to eight she washing clothes. Dirty convict uniforms, nasty sheets and blankets piled way over her head. Us see her twice a month for half an hour.

Her face yellow and sickly, her fingers look like fatty sausage. They allow the speaker more expression and offer a better view of their inner thoughts and feelings. Apostrophes frequently target an absent person or a third party. Other times, they focus on an inanimate object, a place, or even an abstract idea. This may be a sound, like O! Take this example from a poem by Emily Dickinson:.