Poetry Hacks

Negatives

What is it? The repeated use of words such as 'no', 'not, 'never' etc.

What effect does it usually have? Piling up negatives often creates a sense of disapproval, anger, or despair.

What else should I look out for? Saying what something is not can be more powerful and expressive than saying what it is ; sometimes this implies that the thing being observed falls short of what it should be.

An example of how it works … ‘Spring Offensive’ by Wilfred Owen:

No alarms Of bugles, no high flags, no clamorous haste

The anaphoric repetition of negatives clearly underlines what is missing from the scene: though the soldiers are about to charge at the enemy, there is an empty stillness on the battlefield.

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