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Literary Devices
Definition of Alliteration
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought... read full definition
Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the... read full definition
Key Examples in The Dead
Section 3
Explanation and Analysis—Soul Swooned Slowly:
The final image in “The Dead” is arguably the story’s most famous passage, and one of its most evocative. As Gabriel falls asleep next to Gretta, who has just revealed a crucial memory from her childhood to her husband—her belief that a young boy, Michael Furey, died for her—snow is falling, both outside of Gabriel’s windows and all throughout Ireland:
Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. [...] His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.
Related Themes:
