In addition to those identified by the first educator, we can find still further figurative devices in Frost's "The Ax-Helve." Towards the end of the poem, for example, we see an example of allusion used as part of, and to illuminate, a simile. Allusion is valuable in poetry in that it offers us another context through which to understand the text: here, Baptiste stands the ax "erect, but not without its waves, as when / The snake stood up for evil in the Garden." This is an allusion to the serpent in the Garden of Eden as it is described in Genesis: the comparison invites us to consider the ax-helve as if it were a living thing, somewhat sinister, a thing standing upright which should not be in defense of something which should not be defended.
Baptiste's personification of the ax as "she" supports this idea that it has a life of its own in some way, and its own motivations. Earlier, when Baptiste is cutting the helve, he demonstrates that "its curves were no false curves / Put on it from without," again a suggestion that there is a certain power and certain attributes inherent to the ax-helve. The "long-drawn serpentine" of the speaker's machine-made ax-helve is contrasted, in its artificiality, to the helve which should stand like a snake almost under its own power, its natural strength already within and only needing to be coaxed out.
Robert Frost's poetry is known for being rife with figurative devices. In the poem, "The Ax-Helve," Frost makes use of many similes. A simile is a figurative device used to compare two things using "like" or "as."
"Of bending like a sword across the knee"
He also uses personification throughout the poem. Personification is giving human-like characteristics to something that is not human.
"And stood the axe there on it's horses hoof"
"And there it's strength lay"
Authors use figurative language for many reasons, but Frost uses figurative language to paint a picture in the reader's mind of what is going on and to emphasize certain emotions he is trying to portray throughout the poem. By the end of the poem, the reader has an image of exactly what has happened in the poem.
In this poem, a helve is the handle of a tool the narrator uses to chop wood. "The Ax-Helve," like all of Frost's poetry, is filled with literary devices. The most obvious comes in the form of similes, used to compare two things using "like" or "as." These lines describe how Baptiste, after taking the narrator's ax-helve, criticizes it and states how he prefers his helve:
"Like the two strokes across a dollar sign."
"He liked to have it slender as a whipstock."
"Of bending like a sword across the knee."
He also employs the use of personification to compare his helve to a woman, calling it "she" and pointing out how "she cocks her head."
Personification is used again when the narrator claims the alder branch is somehow holding him back from striking another alder branch.
Throughout the poem, Frost also uses alliteration as a sound device. Dialect is used to juxtapose our two characters. The way Baptiste speaks contrasts with the way the narrator speaks; Baptiste is French-Canadian, which is why he is speaking "French-English."
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