A Photograph (Poetic Devices)

Allusion: An allusion is a reference or an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication. An example of allusion in this poem is ‘cardboard’ which actually refers to the photograph. 

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the initial sound (generally a consonant) of several words marking the stressed syllable in a line of poem. Examples of alliteration in this poem are ‘stood still to smile’, ‘terribly transient’, ‘Its silence silences’ etc. 

Transferred Epithet: An Epithet is an adjective. If it gets transferred from its literal place to a metaphoric place ‘Transient feet’ is an example of the transferred epithet in the poem. It refers to human feet but it is used to describe the lack of permanence of human life. 

Oxymoron: In this literary device, there are two opposite ideas that are joined to create an effect. ‘Laboured ease’ in the poem is an example of an oxymoron. Laboured meaning with ‘great difficulty’ and ease means ‘comfortably’. Both words have opposite meanings but here they are clubbed together. Synecdoche : In this poetic device, part stands for the whole. Transient Feet where feet part of a body stands for the whole Human being