Passage II (Henry David Thoreau, 'Smoke', 1843)
Light-winged Smoke, Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight,
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn,
Circling above the hamlets as thy nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light and blotting out the sun;
Go thou my incense upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.
Which figure of speech is implicit in 'Light-winged Smoke!'?
Pick an option to check yourself, or open the answer below.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Apostrophe
Explanation
The poet addresses the smoke directly ('Go thou…').