Question

which stylistic device is being used in the excerpt of maud by alfred tennyson? the red rose cries, she is near, she is near; and the white rose weeps, she is late; the larkspur listens, i hear, i hear; and the lily whispers, i wait. alliteration simile onomatopoeia

Explanation:

Personification is used as non - human objects (roses, larkspur, lily) are given human actions (crying, weeping, listening, whispering). But among the given options, alliteration is not present as there is no repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words. A simile uses "like" or "as" for comparison which is not here. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds, which is not the case. However, if we must choose from the given options, none is correct as the main device is personification. But if we assume a mis - list and go by the closest concept in a wrong - choice context, we analyze the options. Alliteration is about sound repetition, simile about comparison, onomatopoeia about sound imitation. Since the text gives human qualities to flowers, and we ignore the correct personification and focus on the list, we note that there is no sound imitation (so not onomatopoeia), no comparison with "like" or "as" (so not simile), and no initial sound repetition (so not alliteration). But if forced to pick, we can say that the closest wrong choice is that none of these fit the actual device (personification) but if we consider the nature of the text in a very stretched way related to the options, we can note that the words have a rhythmic quality which might be wrongly associated with alliteration in a very loose sense compared to the other two wrong options.

Answer:

None of the above (but if forced from given, alliteration in a very loose non - accurate sense)