Which term refers to a comparison, usually in verse, between seemingly disparate objects or concepts?

Which term refers to a comparison, usually in verse, between seemingly disparate objects or concepts?

• A. Conceit
• B. Bathos
• C. Inversion
• D. Antithesis

Answer: (A)

Conceit is a literary device that uses an extended, often extravagant comparison between two seemingly unrelated objects or concepts, typically in poetry. This keeps the metaphor going, linking two very different things in a way that reveals a surprising or insightful connection. A classic example is John Donne’s compass conceit, where two lovers are likened to the two legs of a compass—separate yet connected, distance just makes the bond stronger. Bathos involves a sudden shift from serious to trivial tone; inversion is a reversal of normal word order; antithesis pairs contrasting ideas in parallel form. Those devices serve different effects and aren’t about a sustained, striking analogy between disparate things, which is what conceit does.

Conceit is a literary device that uses an extended, often extravagant comparison between two seemingly unrelated objects or concepts, typically in poetry. This keeps the metaphor going, linking two very different things in a way that reveals a surprising or insightful connection. A classic example is John Donne’s compass conceit, where two lovers are likened to the two legs of a compass—separate yet connected, distance just makes the bond stronger. Bathos involves a sudden shift from serious to trivial tone; inversion is a reversal of normal word order; antithesis pairs contrasting ideas in parallel form. Those devices serve different effects and aren’t about a sustained, striking analogy between disparate things, which is what conceit does.