Figures of Speech – Apostrophe with Examples | English Literature
What is apostrophe?
Apostrophe is an exclamatory rhetorical figure of speech, when a speaker or writer breaks off and directs speech to an imaginary person or abstract quality or idea.
Examples
Some examples of apostrophe are listed below:
1.
“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
2.
“Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.”John Donne, Holy Sonnet X
3.
“Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again.”Paul Simon, The Sounds of Silence