Allusion, according to a manual to literature by C. Hugh Holman, The Odyssey Press, “is a figure of speech that makes casual reference to a famous historical or literary figure or event.” According to definitions in various literature and composition textbooks, an allusion is the casual reference to a figure or event in history or literature that creates a mental image in the mind of the reader.

All right, young man in the back, what’s the problem? I hear you whisper. Maybe I can answer your question better than your neighbor.

“Uh, well, I just think maybe you’ve got something mixed up. Isn’t that an allusion to something you see that isn’t there?”

Thanks. I’m so glad you asked that question. Many people confuse allusion and illusion. An allusion is a reference to someone or something in literature or history. Illusion is something that is not actually seen or doesn’t really exist.

An example of an allusion would be something like “Like a modern day Daniel, the brave little boy walked to the playground to take on the school bully.” The reference to Daniel from the Bible facing hungry lions brings to mind bravery. Another allusion could be “The Paul Bunyon of a man filled the little room”.

An illusion might be “Jim Ross told everyone about the flying saucer he saw in the night sky. His wife shook her head in disbelief. ‘You also say you saw me do a striptease on the front porch, illusions the result of over- drinking that concoction you make in the garage.'”

Many times writers, especially poets, allude to Biblical characters and events. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare used the line “To Daniel come to judgment.” TS Eliot uses a complex literary allusion in his The Waste Land and in his notes on that poem.

I occasionally use allusion, as in the following poems, and many times I allude to something biblical as I do in these. (All poetry is copyright Vivian Gilbert Zabel.)

Lost objects

The screams make the night dark

While chaos reigns in sleeping minds.

Fighting echoing screams to conscience,

Those who were once numb are found

Now cowering in fear under the covers.

The fire flickers through the filter of the eyelids,

While the brave that the rest lean out

To glimpse shadows of nightmares

Persistent in the delight of tears

Down the cheeks of those too scared to run.

Then faith stretches out its hopeful hand

To touch and tame the hideous madness

That only Hell can bring those who live.

The hero of a demon-filled existence.

It is the one who loves man the most.

The allusion to Hell recalls the agony that is found there.

Live for ever

Who wants to live forever?

So the pain of the heart and limbs can last forever?

The discomfort will grow every day

Until I don’t want to stay.

talk about immortality

I was able to greet my grandchildren

Progeny for many years.

But when your time is gone,

I would fill with tears.

I could watch the story go by

With war, disease, desolation.

Leaders would rise and then fall,

Bringing hope, sometimes despair,

But never lasting care.

I don’t want to live forever

Not in this world we now know.

I want to know that someday

I will be able to escape

To a place not filled with hate.

Who wants to live forever?

In a place of cloudless skies,

Of love, peace and endless joy,

The sunlight shines without a storm,

Glory found in every form.

I will take life forever

In the place where He is alive,

know that everyone there

No need to part

Nor ever feel imprisoned.

No pain, no sickness, no tears

It will look much less familiar,

War, a word not even heard.

Yes, I will live forever.

I once crossed the Jordan River.

In the Bible, the Jordan River came to mean the river that one crosses into Heaven, thus it represents death.

In the first poem, the allusion adds to the emotion of agony, pain, torture. However, in the second poem, the allusion adds to the imagery but not exactly to the emotion.

So what allusion brings to mind an emotional image? What does Sir Gallahad bring to mind? Courage, love, knight in shining armor, all come to mind, emotional reactions.

closure

The young man’s eyes sparkled.

As I spied on the golden curls

Peeking out from under his winter hat.

As an eight year old is not poetic,

He packed snow in a ball

And he pulled with all his might,

Knocking the hat off his head.

Imagine her surprise as she spun

And returned fire, beating his chest,

Where love for her blossomed.

Through the years, fast friends

They turned as they jumped

Hand in hand through the school.

Her prom, she was her date,

As he was to her the next.

After he left for college,

Letters, like winged flames,

I flew from him to her every week.

Summer became a time of joy.

As they rebuilt their love again.

In autumn, they had to part once more,

He went back to the next level;

She, to the university of the city.

Once filled with love and laughter,

Messages from your camera

Getting slower and shorter.

Soon, around Christmas, they stopped.

At the end of the semester, he heard

She gave her love to another.

His heart turned to stone.

Years passed, he earned a fortune,

But he never had a family.

At last the lonely came home

To find his lost love not alone

Wife of another, but mother.

It stayed at the bottom

Knowing that her husband could be broke.

He had the means; she had the hate.

Then he saw her face in his mind.

And kept the hate.

He died the other day

One driver did not stop or stop.

Many attended the funeral.

With a woman in the back.

Tears accumulated and shed

Before he wiped his face,

He turned and ran away.

Only later did she know

He left her not only his heart

But all I had.

Unknown to her, he had been more,

Her Sir Galahad: Although he wore

A rusty and tarnished armor.

I hope you’ll try using the allusion in your poetry, for a touch of imagery if nothing else, but also try to see if the device can add a dose of emotion.