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PERSONIFICATION:

In the third stanza of the poem “A Nation’s Strength” ,we find that the
poet is suggesting us to ask the “red dust of empires passed away”
about the strength of a nation.

ALLITERATION:

In the second stanza of the poem ”A Nation’s Strength” ,the poet has
used alliteration-“sinking sand” .

LANGUAGE AND STYLE:

The language and style of “A Nation’s Strength” by Ralph Waldo
Emerson” are very important, as they tell us a lot about the poet and his
beliefs which strengthen our understanding of the text.

TENSE OF THE VERB:

The poem, “A Nation’s Strength” is written in a combination of present
and past tense. For instance , the poem begins with verb in the present
simple especially to indicate permanence and something eternal.

CHARACTERS:

The most important characters in the poem “A Nation’s Strength” by
Ralph Waldo Emerson” are the narrator and the nation-represented as a
collective character. In addition, there is the group of “brave men” which
is individualised and worth mentioning.

METONYMY:

In a metonymy, the word we use to describe another thing is closely
linked to that particular thing, but is not a part of it. For example, the
word “crown” is used to refer to power or authority is a metonymy. It is
not a part of the thing it represents .The words like “gold” and “sword” in
the poem are the examples of Metonymy. In the poem ,the word “gold”
signifies the wealth and grandeur of a nation, whereas the word “sword”
refers to a nation’s military power.

Furthermore, like other literary devices, metonymy is employed to add a
poetic colour to words to make them come to life. The simple ordinary
things are described in a creative way to insert this “life” factor to literary
works.