What literary devices are used in Robert Frost's "The Pasture"?

Robert Frost's "The Pasture" is a two-stanza poem with a xAAx rhyme scheme, written in iambic pentameter except for the final line of each stanza, which utilizes iambic tetrameter. One example of a literary device in "The Pasture" is anthimeria, or the use of a word as a different part of speech than its normal usage. This literary device is utilized in the first line of the poem:

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring

This is an example of anthimeria because Frost is using "pasture," normally a noun, as an adjective modifying the noun "spring." Frost additionally uses alliteration, or the repetition of beginning sounds, in the following line:

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may)

Finally, the poem contains one example of repetition as a literary device. Each of the two stanzas ends with the same line, which is the following:

I sha'n't be gone long. You come too.

What figurative language does Frost use in "The Pasture?"

Figurative language is any language that goes beyond the literal. It can add extra meaning or it can be used for emphasis or effect.

Frost uses anastrophe in "The Pasture." Anastrophe is changing the ordinary order of words. In the third line, for example, Frost puts the subject and verb, which in English ordinarily go at the beginning of the sentence, at the end:

wait to watch the water clear, I may

Normally we would say: I may wait to watch the water, but that doesn't have the lilting cadence of Frost's word order.

Frost also uses rhyming couplets in the center of each quatrain to create a pleasing rhythmic effect: "away" and "may," "young" and "tongue."

In the last line of each stanza we find apostrophe, which is directly addressing an object or thing: Frost addresses a companion, saying: "You come too." This adds to the comforting, personal feeling of this simple poem.

Frost employs refrain, which is repeating a line or lines. The last line of each stanza is the same, which conveys a sense of gentle insistence:

I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

There are multiple examples of figurative language found in Robert Frost's poem "The Pasture."

The first use of figurative language appears in his use of repetition in the poem. Repetition is when a poet repeats a word, phrase, or line throughout a poem. Repetition is seen when Frost repeats the following:

1. "I shan't be gone long--you come too."

2. Repetition of "I" or derivatives of it throughout the poem.

Another example of figurative language is seen in line three. Here, alliteration is used. Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound within a line of poetry. In the poem, Frost repeats the "w" sound.

And wait to watch the water clear, I may.

One last example of figurative language is seen in line seven. Here, Frost uses assonance. Assonance is the repetition of a vowel sound. IN line seven, the "i" sound is repeated in the words "it" (used twice) and "licks." Assonance is also seen in lines four and eight ("I shan't be gone long--you come too") when the "o" of "gone" and "long" are repeated.