Apostrophe (device)
Pronounced uh-POS-truh-fee.
Apostrophe (device): Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or a thing as if it could hear and answer.
Apostrophe lets a speaker put their subject in the dock or on a pedestal - death, the moon, a lost friend - and talk to it, turning reflection into confrontation.
Apostrophe (device) examples
"O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
— 1 Corinthians 15:55
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, / How I wonder what you are."
— The Star, Jane Taylor
"O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done."
— O Captain! My Captain!, Walt Whitman
"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee / Mighty and dreadful."
— Holy Sonnet 10, John Donne
Spot the Apostrophe (device)
Score: 0/0Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or a thing as if it could hear and answer.
"O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Apostrophe (device): common questions
What is apostrophe (device) in literature?
Addressing an absent person, an abstract idea or a thing as if it could hear and answer. Apostrophe lets a speaker put their subject in the dock or on a pedestal - death, the moon, a lost friend - and talk to it, turning reflection into confrontation.
What is an example of apostrophe (device)?
A classic example is "O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Is this the same apostrophe as the punctuation mark?
No - they share a name only. The punctuation mark shows possession or omission (the writer's, don't). The literary device is direct address to someone absent or something non-human ('O Death, where is thy sting?').
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