Question

How do poets generally use allusion?

Answer 1

An example of how poets generally use allusion is how:

Edgar Allan Poe's ''The Raven,'' the narrator is tormented by grief. He asks, ''Is there balm in Gilead?'' ''Balm of Gilead'' is a biblical allusion for spiritual peace, healing, and salvation. Poe's audience would have been familiar with this reference. They would have understood that the narrator is seeking salvation from his endless grief.

Answer 2

Allusion. A brief, intentional reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, or movement. “The Waste Land,” T. S. Eliot's influential long poem is dense with allusions.