Allusion Examples

In the valley of literature, allusion examples are found in abundance. This article shall highlight few examples of allusions either from prose or poetry to understand ‘allusions’ in details.

‘I wish I had received blessings from Cupid, on Valentine’s day.’

whispers Aeon to herself. Chianz sadly utters to his dad, ‘If the bomb massacre wouldn’t hit Heroshima, the city would have blossomed and people would have had a better life’… Hmm, must be wondering why I am citing these sentences and making a direct reference to the Roman God of Love and one of the most catastrophic historical event. To give you simple allusion examples, I alluded the mythological God and the historical event.

Let me explain you allusion in better details, quoting examples. An allusion is a literary device used to explain or clarify a complex problem by the act of alluding or reference. Referring to a place, historical event, literary work, mythological characters, religious books, myth, work of art. Allusions can be direct reference or by implication. Literary allusions thus, should be an explicit or implicit reference to another literary piece which can be understood and recognized by the reader’s mind. Read more on literary devices and

rules of English grammar

The famous American critic, M.H. Abrams defines allusion as ‘a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage.’.

William Irwin says that an allusion is unidirectional. He justifies his statement by saying, ‘The Bible does not allude to William Shakespeare, though Shakespeare may allude to Holy Bible. He puts forth his view about the unidirectional attribute of allusions by saying,

‘Only a divine author, outside of time, would seem capable of alluding to a later text.’

It is for this reason, that the passages from The Old Testament are often cited as allusion examples in literature. Read more on Biblical allusions and English language.

Allusion Examples in Literature There’s a plethora of allusion examples in literature, contributed to plays, prose and poetries. Though the list is long, I have picked up the quintessential references that will make your concept clear about allusion. You might also like to read about similes and metaphors examples

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Dante Alighieri’s, 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy, has allusion examples in plentitude. Let’s analyze few allusion examples from the first part, Inferno.

I doubt if Phaethon feared more – that time he dropped the sun-reins of his father’s chariot and burned the streak of sky we see today –

or if poor Icarus did – feeling his sides unfeathering as the wax began to melt, his father shouting: “wrong, your course is wrong”.

In this stanza, Dante alludes to Greek mythology. Phaethon and Icarus are Greek mythological characters, that are alluded to evince his fear as he falls down from air into the eighth circle of hell.

You might have come across many literary works where allusion is made to Noah, the last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The story of Noah is inscribed in the Genesis is often alluded, where he represents a man who ‘had no faults and was the only good man of his time’. Noah’s flood or biblical Ark of Noah, is also spotted as allusion example while describing a heavy downpour lasting for forty days and forty nights. Similarly Jesus is also alluded as an example of self sacrifice to save mankind.

Allusion is being made to Jonah to visualize the image of being ‘swallowed alive’ by dust, who was devoured by a fish, written in Book of Jonah. Here the lines go.

“As the cave’s roof collapsed, he was swallowed up in the dust like Jonah, and only his frantic scrabbling behind a wall of rock indicated that there was anyone still alive”.

Now read this speech of Romeo, from Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet.

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night

Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear;

Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!

In this speech, Ethiope is an allusion to Ethiopia. Shakespeare alludes to the Ethiopian slaves who often dwelt in Moorish harems, decking themselves with expensive jewelries in their ears to impress upon all who saw them the wealth of their masters.

You can spot the allusion easily in this following para, which is a citation from the play HAMLET.

Look here, upon this picture, and on this,

The counterfeit presentment of two brothers.

See, what a grace was seated on this brow;

Hyperion’s curls; the front of Jove himself;

An eye like Mars, to threaten and command;

A station like the herald Mercury

New-lighted on a heaven-kissing hill;

These lines from HAMLET have allusions in affluence. Hyperion, Jove, Mars, Mercury are Greek and Roman mythological characters alluded by Shakespeare.

Allusion examples in poetry and proses also bear the same significance. Allusion in poetry should distinguish itself from quotation, re-inscription, intertexuality and echo or else the poetry would be a plagiarized piece. I shall throw some light on few examples from the long drawn listings of allusions. You might also like to know more about elements of literature.

Here’s the poem of Robert Frost, where the title, ‘Out, Out – ‘, itself is an allusion to Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, when Macbeth speaks about life, after death of Lady Macbeth,

‘Out, out, brief candle!’

Emily Dickinson’s poem, All overgrown by cunning moss has alluded to ‘Currer Bell’ and ‘Haworth’ in the first para of the poem.

All overgrown by cunning moss,

All interspersed with weed,

The little cage of “Currer Bell”

In quiet “Haworth” laid.

The object, person or the event alluded to differs, depending upon the origin of poetry. For example, Christian poetry alludes the Bible and English poetry makes use of Classical allusion examples. Islamic poetry draws reference from Koran, while the renowned Chinese poet Du Fu alludes heavily to past illustrations of allusions.

In order to distinguish allusion from echo, Elizabeth Bishop has explicitly made reference to Herbert in her poem Wading at Wellfleet by keeping the line, all a case of knives in quotation marks.

Here’s a very adept example of allusion in the poem The Prelude. In the 14th line of this poem, William Wordsworth has alluded to one of the final lines of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Wordsworth writes, ‘The earth was all before me’, and alludes to Milton’s lines ‘The world was all before them. While these lines from Paradise Lost is alluding to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis. You can also read the glossary of literary terms to increase your knowledge.

In the poem The Waste Land by T.S.Eliot, he has made multiple allusions to lines written by Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, Webster St. Augustine, Baudelaire, etc. When you have understood allusion completely you can refer poetries of famous writers and test yourself to find out the allusive references. Here’s a few list of poems you can go through for allusion examples:

• A Dialogue between Old England and New – Anne Bradstreet
• A little East of Jordan – Emily Dickinson
• A Farewell to Tobacco – Charles Lamb
• A Woman on the Dump – Debora Greger
• Africadian Petition – George Elliott Clarke
• Beyond Words – Kevin Young
• Bright Star, Would I were Steadfast as Thou Art – John Keats
• Bronzes – Carl Sandburg
• Caliban upon Setebos – Robert Browning
• Call Me Pier – Susan Firer
• Adam’s Prayer – Amanda Jernigan
• Ah! Sun-flower — William Blake
• Christabel – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Coy Mistress – Annie Finch
• Discourse on Pure Virtue – George Elliott Clarke
• Love-Lily – Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• Magnificat – Eleanor Wilner
• Morality – Matthew Arnold
• Robin Hood – John Keats
• The Calm – John Donne
• The Divine Image – William Blake
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock – T. S. Eliot
• The Magi – William Butler Yeats
• The Three Enemies – Christina Rossetti
• To Homer – John Keats
• To the Muses — William Blake Allusion Examples for Kids That was some heavy literary soup that would definitely be little tough for kids to digest. But yeah some light stew can be prepared for them as well (nope I’m not alluding to stew). Allusion examples for kids can be from various comic characters, story books, nursery rhymes, animation and fiction movies, fairy tales, etc.

Examples of allusions can be cited from the animated movie, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ where the characters White Witch, Mrs. Lefay and Prince Rilian are alluded to Snow Queen from Hans Christian Andersen, Hamlet from Shakespeare and Morgan Le Fay from the King Arthur stories respectively. The best example of direct allusion in this movie is Aslan representing Jesus Christ.

‘Christy didn’t like to spend money. She was no Scrooge, but she seldom purchased anything except the bare necessities’.

. Can you spot the allusion here? In this line direct allusion is being made to Scrooge, who is the famous character depicting ‘pinches pennies’ in Charles Dickens’ classic ‘A Christmas Carol’.

The very mention of King Solomon’s Mines in any story or literary piece, alludes to the riches to be found. Comic books have become the very basis of allusion examples used in fiction and art. Allusions made to Superman or Batman is understood not only by children but also by adults. Allusions are also made to renowned novels like ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘The Famous Five’, etc. Children might also be interested to read metaphor examples for kids.

Harry Potter’s movie series or story books has hundreds of allusions in them.

JK Rowling

has alluded to many mythological names, astronomy and folklore. Sirius Black’s as Padfoot, Dog Star are the names having implicit references to constellations. Remus Lupin’s code name as Romulus in ‘Deathly Hallows’ alludes directly to Roman mythology. The three headed dog, Fluffy is also an allusion to the Greek mythological creature, Cerberus. Well, these were only three allusion examples picked up from Harry Potter series. So next time you read or watch, do not forget to spot out allusions.

I hope with these allusion examples, you can understand allusive references in literary works. You have to understand in depths and find out the intricate details in order to understand allusions. If it’s really so, then try figure out the allusion in this sentence, ‘The girl’s love of diamonds was her Achilles heel’…(okay…I’m sure you know the answer). Just don on your allusive perspective with the quote of the renowned French writer, Jean Paulhan, ‘An allusion which is explained no longer has the charm of allusion… In divulging the mystery, you withdraw its virtue’.