WAEC & NECO Literature-in-English 2026–2030 | African Poetry
Poetic Devices in New Tongue by Elizabeth Kamara
Twelve devices explained simply, each with its stanza, line numbers, an example and its effect.
This guide covers the poetic devices in New Tongue, Elizabeth Kamara’s poem about a generation that trades its culture for borrowed ways. For each device, you will find a short definition, an example with stanza and line numbers, and the effect it creates. Those three steps are exactly what examiners want to see.
Line numbers follow the official WAEC text, which has five stanzas and 46 lines. If you need a reminder of the poem, start with our stanza-by-stanza summary.
Form and language at a glance
Kamara writes in free verse, with no fixed rhyme or metre. Many lines are very short, sometimes just one or two words. Her language is simple, which lets the poetic devices in New Tongue stand out clearly.
1. Repetition
Repetition means using a word more than once for emphasis. Kamara repeats key words to drive home her message.
Example: Stanza 1 uses “new” four times (lines 1–4). “Borrowed” appears in stanza 4 (line 30) and twice in stanza 5 (lines 42–43). Stanza 2 also repeats “inwards” (lines 21–22).
Effect: Repeating new shows the young generation’s obsession with change. Repeating borrowed reminds readers that these ways belong to someone else.
2. Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of the same word at the start of several lines.
Example: Stanza 2 lists “Of family”, “Of tradition” and “Of heritage” (lines 16–18). Stanza 4 follows with “For himself”, “By himself” and “Of himself” (lines 32–34).
Effect: The first pattern lists everything the young have abandoned. The second stresses how completely each person now lives alone.
3. Simile
A simile compares two things using like or as.
Example: Minds turn inwards “Like the insides of clothes” (stanza 2, line 23). Coldness descends “like snow covered mountain” (stanza 4, line 35), and society feels like bathing behind the house on a rainy July day (lines 36–37).
Effect: These comparisons make selfishness and coldness easy to picture. The July image also grounds the poem in everyday West African life.
4. Metaphor
A metaphor describes one thing as if it were another, without using like or as.
Example: The young bind new ways to their hearts “with impregnable chains” (stanza 1, line 5). Later, they “hang the last lock on their culture” (stanza 5, line 44).
Effect: The chains show how tightly the young cling to foreign ways. The lock suggests their culture is shut away for good.
5. Metonymy
Metonymy uses something closely linked to an idea to stand for that idea.
Example: The word “tongue” stands for language throughout the poem, from the title to “the old tongue” (stanza 3, line 28) and “a borrowed tongue” (stanza 4, line 30).
Effect: Through one simple word, the poet links language to culture and identity.
Get the full New Tongue exam pack
Likely WAEC and NECO essay questions with model answers, plus objective questions with answers for revision and class tests.
6. Allusion
An allusion is a reference to a well-known story, person or event.
Example: The young “parted the red sea long ago” (stanza 5, line 43). This recalls the Bible story in which Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea, which then closed behind them.
Effect: Like the Israelites, the young have crossed over, and the way back has closed. The allusion stresses that the change cannot be undone.
7. Imagery
Imagery is language that appeals to the senses.
Example: Ashes are “strewn into the bottomless sea” (stanza 1, line 10). Stanza 4 pictures wind felling trees, carting roofs away and swirling debris (lines 38–41).
Effect: The ashes picture relationships destroyed beyond repair. The storm shows a society thrown into chaos.
8. Personification
Personification gives human qualities to things that are not human.
Example: Fishes swim by “Careless of the loss” yet “Mindful” of their own way (stanza 1, lines 11–13). In stanza 5, “The borrowed shoes dance” (line 42).
Effect: Careless fishes mirror the young people’s indifference. Dancing shoes suggest that borrowed ways now lead them forward.
9. Climax
Climax arranges words or ideas in rising order of strength.
Example: Family ties are “Loosened, broken, burnt” (stanza 1, line 9).
Effect: Each word is stronger than the last, showing how relationships decline step by step until nothing remains.
10. Symbolism
A symbol is an object that stands for a bigger idea.
Example: The old songs stand for tradition (stanza 1, line 6). The ashes represent destroyed relationships (line 10), and the lock represents final separation from the past (stanza 5, line 44).
Effect: These symbols give concrete form to abstract ideas about culture and loss.
11. Contrast
Contrast places opposite ideas side by side.
Example: The poem sets new against old throughout. For instance, stanza 3 mentions the old tongue (line 28), while stanza 4 praises a borrowed tongue (line 30).
Effect: This contrast highlights exactly what the young generation has given up.
12. Enjambment
Enjambment means a sentence runs on from one line to the next without a pause.
Example: Stanza 2 carries one thought across lines 14–18, and stanza 4 does the same across lines 38–41.
Effect: Short, run-on lines slow the reader down and give each idea extra weight.
How to answer questions on poetic devices in New Tongue
Examiners usually ask you to identify a set number of devices and comment on them. For each one, follow three steps. First, name the device. Next, give an example with its line number. Then explain its effect on the meaning or mood.
Never list devices without explaining them, because naming alone earns few marks. Linking each device to a theme will lift your answer further, so read our guide to the themes in New Tongue. For exam-style practice, visit New Tongue questions and answers. Everything else is in the complete study guide.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main poetic devices in New Tongue?
The most important are repetition, anaphora, simile, metaphor, allusion and imagery.
What does the red sea allusion mean?
It recalls the Israelites crossing the Red Sea in the Bible. Like them, the young have crossed over, and there is no way back.
What figure of speech is Loosened, broken, burnt?
It is a climax, because each word is stronger than the one before.
Does New Tongue rhyme?
No. Kamara uses free verse, without a regular rhyme scheme or metre.
Teaching this poem?
Get ready-made lesson notes, class tests and exam questions with marking guides for New Tongue and all 12 prescribed poems.
