Imagery and metaphors

Here are some figures of speech employed by Roald Dahl in his poem, “The Ant-Eater”.

Imagery

The poem abounds in adjectives that help create imagery. The boy is “half-baked; half-witted and half-boiled” and “unattractive”. The toys he owns are “expensive” and the animal he wants to own must be “peculiar”. The price paid for the ant-eater is “enormous”, even though the animal arrives into Roy’s possession “half-dead”. When the ant-eater eventually eats aunt Dorothy, he is shown having a “careful aim” in obtaining his “decent dinner”.

Idioms

The poet employs interesting idioms in the poem: ‘to be skin and bones’or the idiom “By gosh”. The idioms give the poem and the dialogues more authenticity.

Colloquial

The poet employs some informal words and expressions in order to better create the portrai...