Apostrophe (figure of speech)

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For the apostrophe as a punctuation mark, see apostrophe.

Apostrophe (Greek ἀποστροφή, apostrophé, "turning away"; the final e being sounded) is an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, when a talker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea. In dramatic works and poetry, it is often introduced by the word "O" (not to be confused with the exclamation "oh").

It is related to personification, although in apostrophe, objects or abstractions are implied to have certain human qualities (such as understanding) by the very fact that the speaker is addressing them as he would a person in his presence.

Apostrophe is often used to convey extreme emotion, as in Claudius' impassioned speech in Hamlet. [1]


Apostrophe (figure of speech) in Poetria Nova by Geoffrey of Vinsauf

Apostrophe (apostrophatio, exclamatio). In order that you may travel the more spacious route, let apostrophe be a fourth mode of delay. By it you may cause the subject to linger on its way, and in it you may stroll for an hour. Take delight in the apostrophe; without it the feast would be ample enough, but with it the courses of an excellent cuisine are multiplied. The splendor of dishes arriving in rich profusion and the leisured delay at the table are festive signs. (270) With a variety of courses we feed the ear for a longer time and more lavishly. Here is the food indeed for the ear when it arrives delicious and fragrant costly. Example may serve to complement theory: the eye is a surer arbiter than the ear. One example is not enough; there will be an ample number; from this ample evidence learn what occasion suitably introduces apostrophe, what object it addresses, and in what form.

Rise up apostrophe, before the man whose mind soars too high in prosperity, and rebuke him thus:

Why does joy so intense excite your spirit? Curb jubilation with due restraint and extend not its limits beyond what is meet (appropriate). O soul, heedless of misfortune to come imitate Janus[.] (280)

[edit] Examples

  • "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2.
  • "O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers! / Thou art the ruins of the noblest man / That ever lived in the tide of times." Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1.
  • "To what green altar, O mysterious priest, / Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, / And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?" John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn".
  • "O eloquent, just, and mighty Death!" Sir Walter Raleigh, A Historie of the World
  • "Roll on thou dark and deep blue ocean." Lord Byron, "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage".
  • "Science! True daughter of Old Time thou art!" Edgar Allan Poe, "To Science".
  • Common usage as an opposition speaker at a political convention: "And I say to you, Mr. President, we do not want our children to grow up in a world where...(etc.)"
  • O Captain! My Captain!, title of Walt Whitman's poem.
  • Oh, brave new world that has such people in't!, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1.
  • Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws, from Sonnet 19 by William Shakespeare
  • O cunning Love! , from Sonnet 148 by William Shakespeare
  • Death, be not proud, though some have called thee, John Donne, Death be not Proud
  • And you, Eumaeus...(The Odyssey)

In epic poetry the author will often address characters, which does not conform to the poem's usual style. Homer used apostrophe to show a particular fondness for a character he may be writing about. This is further shown in 'The Iliad' where he acts as though directly speaking to Patroclus in the last books before his death.

Ambition,you have been a cruel master,I'll serve you no longer

[edit] References

  1. ^ Shakespeare, William, “Act 3, Scene 3”, Hamlet