"The moan of doves in immemorial elms
And murmuring of innumerable bees".
Identify the figure of speech in the above lines :

Question

Accepted Answer

The figure of speech in the lines "The moan of doves in immemorial elms / And murmuring of innumerable bees" is Onomatopoeia because the words "moan" and "murmuring" imitate the actual sounds made by doves and bees, respectively. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that phonetically resemble or suggest the sound that they describe. The words directly evoke the auditory experience of hearing doves cooing and bees buzzing.

Here's why the other options are incorrect:

*   **Assonance:** Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words in close proximity. While there might be some instances of vowel sound repetition in the lines, the primary effect isn't the emphasis of vowel sounds but the imitation of actual sounds. Therefore, assonance is not the dominant figure of speech.

*   **Refrain:** A refrain is a line or group of lines that is repeated throughout a poem or song. There is no repetition of lines in the given excerpt, so it cannot be a refrain.

*   **Simile:** A simile is a comparison between two unlike things using "like" or "as." The lines do not contain any explicit comparison using these words, nor do they imply a comparison between two dissimilar things. Therefore, it is not a simile.