Literary devices

An author’s application literary devices to a poem hook a reader into a story and establish mood. Words with similar sounds, or vivid, descriptive words help to create this mood. The various techniques authors use have different affects on the literature, but ultimately all induce a mood. Literary devices such as the diction in John Masefield’s “Cargoes,” the rhythm in Carl Sandburg’s “Jazz Fantasia,” and the rhyme in Dorothy Parker’s “The Choices” each help establish a mood.
In “Cargoes,” John Masefield uses diction to create a nostalgic mood and to help convey his discontent with the present day. In the first stanza, Masefield writes, “[…]Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine” (2), additional words like “sandalwood,” “sweet,” contribute to the image of towering, exotic ship returning to its warm and sunny home. He also uses words like “diamonds” (8), “topazes” (10), and “cinnamon” (10) to describe the dazzling beauty and eleg...