Tags: oxymoron definition, oxymoron examples, what is an oxymoron, oxymoron meaning, oxymoron synonym, oxymoron vs paradox, oxymoron in romeo and juliet |
Definition and Examples of Oxymoron – Literary Terms
Oxymoron:
A figure of speech in
which two contradictory words or phrases are combined in a single expression,
giving the effect of a condensed PARADOX: "wise fool," "living
death," "cruel kindness," "eloquent silence." Still
found in modern POETRY, the oxymoron was the primary rhetorical expression of
the BAROQUE era, especially in METAPHYSICAL POETRY. Romeo uses a series of
oxymora to describe his "loving hate" in these lines from William
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:
O heavy lightness!
serious vanity!
Mis-shapen chaos of
well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright
smoke, cold fire, sick health!
These lines describe the
infant Jesus in Richard Crashaw's poem “An Hymn of the Nativity":
Welcome, all wonders in
one sight!
Eternity shut in a span,
Summer in winter, day in
night,
Heaven in earth, and God
in man!
Singular: Oxymoron.
Plural: Oxymora.
See also:
PARADOX.
Tags: oxymoron definition, oxymoron examples, what is an oxymoron, oxymoron meaning, oxymoron synonym, oxymoron vs paradox, oxymoron in romeo and juliet
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