Editing Kenning (section)

==Modern usage==
Figures of speech similar to kennings occur in Modern English (both in literature and in regular speech), and are often found in combination with other poetic devices. For example, the [[Madness (band)|Madness]] song "[[The Sun and the Rain]]" contains the line "standing up in the falling-down", where "the falling-down" refers to rain and is used in juxtaposition to "standing up". Some recent English writers have attempted to use approximations of kennings in their work. [[John Steinbeck]] used kenning-like figures of speech in his 1950 novella ''[[Burning Bright]]'', which was adapted into a Broadway play that same year.<ref>{{Citation |title=Burning Bright – Broadway Play – Original |work=IBDB |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/burning-bright-1872 |access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> According to Steinbeck biographer [[Jay Parini]], "The experiment is well-intentioned, but it remains idiosyncratic to the point of absurdity. Steinbeck invented compound phrases (similar to the Old English use of kennings), such as 'wife-loss' and 'friend-right' and 'laughter-starving,' that simply seem eccentric."<ref>{{Citation |last=Parini |first=Jay |title=John Steinbeck: A Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/johnsteinbeckbio0000pari |page=[https://archive.org/details/johnsteinbeckbio0000pari/page/343 343] |year=1995 |place=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Co. |isbn=0805016732 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Kennings remain somewhat common in [[German language|German]] ({{lang|de|Drahtesel}} {{gloss|wire-donkey}} for bicycle, {{lang|de|Feuerstuhl}} {{gloss|fire-chair}} for motorcycle, {{lang|de|Stubentiger}} {{gloss|chamber-tiger}} for cat, and so on).

The poet [[Seamus Heaney]] regularly employed kennings in his work; for example, ''bone-house'' for {{gloss|skeleton}}.