LITERARY ELEMENTS: are tools the author uses to create meaning

What literary tool does the author mostly use in this poem to help us understand her message?



Pretty Words by Elinor Wylie (1885-1929)

Poets make pets of pretty, docile words:

I love smooth words, like gold-enameled fish

Which circle slowly with a silken swish,

And tender ones, like downy-feathered birds:

Words shy and dappled, deep-eyed deer in herds,

Come to my hand, and playful if I wish,

Or purring softly at a silver dish,

Blue Persian kittens fed on cream and curds.



I love bright words, words up and singing early;

Words that are luminous in the dark, and sing;

Warm lazy words, white cattle under trees;

I love words opalescent, cool, and pearly,

Like midsummer moths, and honied words like bees,

Gilded and sticky, with a little sting.



answer choices

Punctuation (periods, commas, quotes, or exclamations)

Rhyme (words that sound the same)

Rhythm (musical quality and repetition)

Figurative Language (imagery, simile, metaphor etc.)