Metonymy is a literary technique used in poetry to draw attention to a word or idea by changing the diction used by the poet. It can be used to make something more abstract or archetypal, describe institutions, drop nouns and adjectives, and create literary symbolism. Metonymy gives mundane objects a poetic color and makes them come to life.
The literary technique known as metonymy is most often used in poetry to draw attention to a word or idea by slightly changing the diction used by the poet. A slight change in word choice can cause big changes in how the reader perceives a concept within a poem. Metonymy can achieve this, often by abstracting an underlying idea or making it larger than life.
An easy way to use metonymy in poetry is to call something by a name that makes it less technical or specific and more abstract or ‘archetypal. For example, if a poet writes a line to include someone bleeding, but instead of the word “blood” he uses the word “life,” it creates a different impression for many readers. In this use of metonymy, blood as a technical biological element is abstracted into a “life force,” something with more spiritual or metaphysical associations. This is one of the more common uses of metonymy in poetry and other literature.
Furthermore, metonymy can also be used to describe institutions such as nations or, in the medieval sense, kingdoms. A common use of the metonym is to refer to troops or armies as the “strength” of a nation. In modern terms, this metonym term would include other parts of a defense system, such as advanced defense technology.
Another use of metonymy in poetry involves dropping a noun in a product line and dropping the adjective. For example, the use of the word “good” to describe good things is a use of metonymy. Again, the use of metonym further abstracts the idea. Saying “good things” provides a more concrete sense of what is being referred to, but just saying “all good things” gives readers a more universal impression of what is being discussed or described through the poem.
Metonymy in poetry can also be useful in literary symbolism. Literary symbolism is the idea that words as expressed on a page can have deeper or hidden meanings. Here, the use of metonymy can help create a more symbolic work of literature.
In general, metonymy takes mundane and ordinary objects and gives them a more poetic color or “life”. Critics of literature or other art forms often speak of making something “come to life”. Poets use metonymy to accomplish this goal of describing simple elements or concepts in more creative ways.
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