Allusion In Poetry
By Vivian Gilbert Zabel, Mon Dec 26th

Allusion, according to A Handbook to Literature by C.Hugh Holman, The Odyssey Press, "is a figure of speech makingcasual reference to a famous historical or literary figure orevent." According to definitions in various literature andcomposition text books, an allusion is the casual reference to afigure or event in history or literature that creates a mentalimage in the mind of the reader.

All right, young man in the back, what's the problem? I hear youwhispering. Maybe I can answer your question better than yourneighbor.

"Uh, well, I just think maybe you have confused something. Isn'tan allusion something you see that isn't there?"

Thank you. I'm so glad you asked that question. Many people doconfuse allusion and illusion. An allusion is the reference tosomeone or something in literature or history. Illusion issomething which is not actually seen or which does not reallyexist.

One example of an allusion would be something like "Like amodern Daniel, the brave little boy strode to the playground inorder to face the school bully." The reference to Daniel fromthe Bible who faced hungry lions brings bravery to mind. Anotherallusion might be "The Paul Bunyon of a man filled the smallroom."

An illusion might be "Jim Ross told everyone about the flyingsaucer he watched in the night sky. His wife shook her head indisbelief. 'You also say you saw me do a strip tease on thefront porch, illusions the result of over-inbibing that brew youmake in the garage'."

Many times writers, especially poets, allude to Biblicalcharacters and events. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeareused the line "A Daniel come to judgement." T.S. Eliot uses acomplex literary allusion in his The Waste Land and in his notesabout that poem.

I use allusion occasionally, as in the following poems, and manytimes I allude to something Biblical as I do in these. (Allpoetry is copyrighted by Vivian Gilbert Zabel.)

Lost and Found

Screams rend the night darkness

As chaos reigns in sleeping minds.

Fighting echoing shrieks to awareness,

Those once drowsing find themselves

Now huddling in fear beneath covers.

Fire flickers through the filter of eyelids,

While those braver than the rest peek

To glimpse shadows of nightmares

Lingering in delight of tears streaming

Down cheeks of those too scared to run.

Then faith reaches out its hopeful hand

To touch and tame the frightful madness

That only Hell can bring to those who live.

The hero of a demon-filled existence

Is the One who loves man the most.

The allusion to Hell brings to mind the agony that is to befound there.

Live Forever

Who wants to live forever?

So the pain of heart and limbsCan endure ever lasting?

Discomfort will grow each day

Until I won't want to stay.

Talk of immortality,

I could greet my grandchildren's

Progeny for many years.

But when their time disappears,

I would be overwhelmed with tears.

I could watch history pass

With war, disease, desolation.

Leaders would rise and then fall,

Bringing hope, sometimes despair,

But never long-lasting care.

I don't want to live forever,

Not in this world we now know.

I want to know that some day

I will be able to escape

To a place

not filled with hate.

Who wants to live forever?

In a place of cloudless skies,

Of love, peace, and endless joy,

Sunlight gleams without a storm,

Glory found in every form.

I will take forever life

In the place where He's alive,

To know that everyone there

Need not be separated

Nor ever feel incarcerated.

No pain, no illness, no tears

Will be seen much less known,

War, a word not even heard.

Yes, I will live forever

Once I cross Jordan's river.

In the Bible, the river Jordan came to mean the river that onecrosses into Heaven, therefore representing death.

In the first poem, the allusion adds to the emotion of agony,pain, torture. However, in the second poem, the allusion adds tothe imagery but not exactly to the emotion.

So what allusion brings an emotional image to mind? What doesSir Gallahad bring to mind? Courage, love, knight in shiningarmor all come to mind, emotional reactions.

Closure

The young boy's eyes sparkled

As he spied the golden curls

Peeking from under her winter cap.

Since an eight-year-old isn't poetic,

He packed snow into a ball

And threw with all his might,

Knocking the hat from her head.

Imagine his surprise as she whirled

And returned fire, hitting his chest,

Where love for her bloomed.

Over the years, fast friends

They became as they skipped

Hand in hand through school.

His junior prom, she was his date,

As was he for hers the next.

After he left for college,

Letters, like winged flames,

Flew from him to her each week.

The summer became a time of joy

As they rebuilt their love again.

In fall, they had to part once more,

He back to the next level;

She, to the college in town.

Once full of love and laughter,

Messages from her came

Slower and shorter each time.

Soon, by Christmas, they stopped.

By end of semester, he heard

She gave her love to another.

His heart turned to stone.

Years passed, he earned a fortune,

But he never had a family.

At last the loner returned home

To find his lost love not only

Another's wife, but a mother.

He stood in the background,

Knowing her husband could be ruined.

He had the means; he had the hate.

Then he saw her face in his mind

And packed the hate away.

He died the other day,

A driver didn't pause or stop.

Many attended the funeral

With one woman at the back.

Tears pooled and spilled

Before she wiped her face,

Turned, and slipped away.

Only later did she know

He left her not only his heart

But everything he had.

Unknown to her, he had been more,

Her Sir Galahad: Although he wore

A tarnished, rusted suit of armor.

I hope you will try using allusion in your poetry, for a touchof imagery if nothing else, but also try to see if the devicecan add a dose of emotion.

About the author:Vivian Gilbert Zabel taught English, composition, and creativewriting for twenty-five years, honing her skills as she studiedand taught. She is a author onWriters (http://www.Writing.Com/ ), and her portfolio ishttp://www.Writing.Com/authors/vzabel. Her books, Hidden Liesand Other Stories and Walking the Earth, can be foundthrough Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.