Question

Which device is evident in the phrase: “when like a roe / I bounded o’er the mountains”?

• A. Personification
• B. Symbolism
• C. Simile
• D. Caesura

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Simile

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using "like" or "as." In the phrase:

“when like a roe / I bounded o’er the mountains”
(from Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey)

The speaker compares himself to a roe (a small deer), using "like" to draw the comparison — a textbook example of a simile.

• “Like a roe” = the comparison

• “Bounded o’er the mountains” = emphasizes lightness, energy, and freedom of youth.