Allusion: Allusion is an implicit or indirect reference to another work of art or literature, to a historical person or event. Example of Allusion:
Not half so fixed the Trojan could remain,
While Anna begged and Dido raged in vain.
(Pope: The Rape of the Lock)
While Anna begged and Dido raged in vain.
(Pope: The Rape of the Lock)
Here is an allusion to the dilemma of Aeneas, the hero of Virgil's Aeneid. Aeneas falls in love with Dido, the queen of Carthage. Dido implores Aeneas to marry her and get settled permanently in Carthage. Though Aeneas is deeply in love with her, he cannot ignore his duty to continue his voyage in search of a permanent empire for his future generation. He is torn between love and duty. This dilemma of Aeneas has been recalled here to suggest the intensity of Belinda's crisis. An allusion, which clarifies meanings and suggests a great deal in a few words, makes a work of literature difficult to understand but adds dignity to it.