give an account of the significance of the main poetic device used in the poem.
The poem, “Ambush” is metaphoric because of the dominance of powerful metaphors; these are captured in the following lines of the poem. “The land is a giant whale,” in stanza one. The “whale” is a large sea mammal. This comparison implies that the land can swallow anything and everything just as the whale swallows, hook line, sinker and bait.
“The land is a sabre-toothed tiger”. Again, the land is compared to a tiger, a wild beast of the jungle that devours its prey whole and entire. “The land is a giant hawk.” The hawk does not spare the chick, no matter how hard it cries and so does the land swallow, everyone. Also, the bayonet of tribulation is another powerful metaphor that heightens the poetic diction.
Alliterations include, “swallow…sinker”, “Peters…Peters,” stanza 1, “toothed tiger, “hovers…hoots,” land lies,” and “toward the” in the last line. All these create a sound effect in the poem.
The artistic combination of these poetic devices makes the poem very significant and at the same time deepens its meaning. As a result of the metaphoric approach, the poem is open to various interpretations.