Identifying Figures of Speech: Understanding "Sleepless Pillow"

The question asks to identify the figure of speech used in the sentence, "He lay all night on his sleepless pillow." The underlined word is "sleepless". We need to determine how the adjective "sleepless" is used in relation to "pillow".

What is a Figure of Speech?

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that uses figurative language—language that is not meant to be taken literally—to create a literary effect. It is used to add colour, emphasis, or clarity to writing or speech.

Analysing the Options

Let's look at the given options and see which one best describes the use of "sleepless" with "pillow".

• Hyperbole: This involves extreme exaggeration used for emphasis or effect. While the person's lack of sleep might be exaggerated, the phrase "sleepless pillow" itself isn't primarily about the pillow being exaggeratedly unable to sleep. The adjective "sleepless" is not an exaggeration of the pillow's quality, but rather a description transferred from the person.
• Synecdoche: This is a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole, or vice versa. For example, "wheels" might refer to a car, or "hands" might refer to workers. In "sleepless pillow", the pillow is not a part representing the person, nor is the person representing the pillow.
• Transferred Epithet: This is a figure of speech where an adjective or epithet that correctly describes one noun is transferred to another noun, with which it is closely associated. The adjective typically describes a human quality, emotion, or state and is applied to an inanimate object or place linked to that human state.

Applying Transferred Epithet to the Sentence

In the sentence "He lay all night on his sleepless pillow," the adjective "sleepless" describes the person ("He") who was unable to sleep. However, the adjective is applied to the "pillow," which is the object the sleepless person lay on. The pillow itself cannot literally be sleepless; the person is sleepless. The feeling or state of being sleepless is transferred from the person to the pillow that is associated with the person's sleepless night.

This perfectly matches the definition of a Transferred Epithet.

Therefore, the underlined phrase is an example of a Transferred Epithet.