Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow:
SMOKE
Light – winged smoke! Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight:
Lark without song, and the messenger of dawn,
Circling above the hamlets as thy nest:
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight, vision gathering up thy skirts:
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light and blotting out the sun:
Go thou, my incence, upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame,
Henry David Thoreau

Which figure of speech is implicit in ‘light winged smoke!’?

The correct option is Apostraphe.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Understanding the Figure of Speech "Apostrophe":
An apostrophe is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker addresses an inanimate object, an abstract idea, or an absent/dead person directly as if it were present, alive, and capable of understanding.

2. Analyzing the Phrase:
In the opening line of Henry David Thoreau's poem, the speaker addresses the smoke directly: "Light – winged smoke! Icarian bird..."
Here, smoke is an inanimate object (a physical phenomenon rising from a hearth). By calling out to the smoke directly with the exclamation ("Light – winged smoke!"), the speaker speaks to it as if it were a sentient entity capable of listening and carrying a message upward to the gods.

3. Why the other options are incorrect:
• Simile: A simile compares two different things using explicit comparative words such as "like" or "as" (e.g., "smoke like a bird"). No such comparative words are used in the phrase.
• Oxymoron: An oxymoron places two contradictory terms side-by-side (e.g., "deafening silence"). "Light-winged smoke" contains no contradictory terms.
• Hyperbole: Hyperbole involves deliberate and extreme exaggeration for emphasis. While the poem uses elevated imagery, the direct address to the smoke itself is specifically classified as an apostrophe.