Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Morning Fish Market
The town is still asleep when they arrive,
their baskets heavy from the early van.
They take their places on the wet cement:
a crate, a knife, a scale, a dented pan.
Rani sorts the prawns in heaps of ten.
Lata breaks the ice with a wooden pin.
Silver sardines slide across the slab,
and Mariamma dresses them, fin by fin.
By seven the market fills. The buyers come
with cloth bags and a frown at every rate.
They poke a gill and argue for a rupee.
The women laugh, and add one to the weight.
By ten the baskets hold just melting ice.
They hose the floor and count the coins again,
then stretch their aching backs, tie up their hair,
and walk home, side by side, down the sunlit lane.
Identify the figure of speech used in the line:
“Silver sardines slide across the slab”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Alliteration
Alliteration:
- Alliteration is the same first sound repeated in words close together.
- In the line, four words begin with the “s” sound: “silver sardines slide … slab”. The soft, smooth sound matches the wet fish sliding on the stone. Example: Bunty bought a big blue balloon at the mela.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Personification — Incorrect. Personification gives human qualities or actions to a thing that is not human. Example: The old door groaned in complaint when I pushed it.
Option 2: Simile — Incorrect. A simile compares two different things using “like” or “as”. Example: Her hands were as cold as ice.
Option 3: Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor calls one thing another, without “like” or “as”. Example: The classroom was a zoo when the teacher left.