Juliet feels completely alone in the world and by talking to the dagger she is able to explain her intentions and direct some of her sorrow outward. This is in reference to the ironic joy it will take in her death. She speaks directly the dagger she is about to kill herself with. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath there rust, and let me die. Take a look at this line from the play where Juliet is speaking: Rather than go on living she decides to kill herself. It occurs towards the end of the play at the climax after Juliet has woken up from her deep sleep and found Romeo dead. In this, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, there is a powerful and important use of apostrophe. It also increases the importance of the nightingale in the reader’s mind.Įxample #3 Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare By addressing the bird he is able to show his dedication to it and love for it. He knows, or claims to know, that the sound of the nightingale’s voice was the same voice heard “by emperor and clown” in the “ancient days”. The passage of time and the upcoming generations will not destroy “thee”. It has a kind of beauty and a presence that lives forever. He speakers reverentially to the creature, expressing his belief that it is, or should be, immortal. The voice I hear this passing night was heard Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! Take a look at these lines from the middle of the poem: With the text, he talks to the bird, around the bird, and simply to himself. The creature lives a carefree life and he is inspired to do the same. It focuses on a nightingale the speaker sees, regards, and expresses his jealousy about. It is through this work, as he continues to talk to death, that Donne explains that this is not the case.Įxample #2 Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats There are many, throughout time and history, who have thought death to be “Mighty and dreadful”. In these lines, Donne says very clearly that death is “not proud” even though some think that it is. Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so įor those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrowĭie not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. Take a look at these lines and how Donne uses apostrophe to present the reader with an unusual image of death:ĭeath, be not proud, though some have called thee Within this piece, Donne addresses “Death”. This poem is one of nineteen sonnets included in Holy Sonnets or Divine Meditations, published after the poet’s death in 1633. As with techniques such as personification and anthropomorphism, it helps the reader empathize with the recipient of the speaker’s words and understand it/them better.Įxamples of Apostrophe in Literature Example #1 Death Be Not Proud by John Donne When a writer uses this technique they are able to give life to creatures, people, and objects that might otherwise seem flat and relatively unimportant. In these examples the narrator reasserts himself into the story, adding commentary or addressing a character, or even a god. It was a technique used in works like Homer’s Odyssey. The word “apostrophe” comes from the Greek meaning “turning back”. When writers make use of this technique it is often accompanied by escalations like “Oh!” or “Alas”. These disparate recipients of a speaker’s words are unified by the belief, on the part of the speaker, real or not, that whoever or whatever they are speaking to can hear and understand them. Often, this technique is used when a speaker addresses a god or group of gods. It might also be a non-human animal, an abstracted, but personified force, or even an object. This could be a person they know or don’t know someone who is alive or dead, or someone who never existed at all.
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