“We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it,” the famous Scottish novelist James M. Barrie had once stated. This popular quote is found to be accurately represented in European literature. The eventual loss of people, objects, and ideas is expressed through poems and short stories. European authors use repetition, parallelism, and personification to convey the theme of loss over time. Repetition is included in numerous European writings to support the idea of misfortune. Specifically, authors use diacope in their work; it is when a word is repeated while being broken up by one or more words. In Yevtushenko’s poem “People” he explained how “In any man who dies there dies with him his first snow and kiss …show more content…
Synonymous parallelism is a certain type that is commonly used; furthermore, it occurs when the theme of a line is repeated. Yevtushenko states how people we may dislike at the moment die and they could be a “Friend of friend? Lover of lover?”(Yevtushenko 455). He explains how spending time with others are precious moments since they may pass away at any time. Phonological parallelism is a literary device that is used by many writers; in addition, it is the repetition of similar sounds. In “People” different kinds of people are mentioned, and Yevtushenko explains how they get to be known “in everything, in nothing” (Yevtushenko 455). He describes how they will perish one day, and they should be appreciated even if they have flaws. Another common type of parallelism is syntactic; moreover, syntactic parallelism focuses more grammatically. In the short story “The Majesty of the Law” the sergeant told Dan he was in a condition that was “Neither too good nor too bad” because he hadn’t seen his children in an extended period of time. This shows how the sergeant wasn’t noticing how grateful he was for the time he was able to spend with his family until it was gone. Other types of literary devices use the reference of people to help the reader understand the theme of