I'm not sure to which story you are referring, but here's what the symbols mean. A pendulum is the part of a clock (i.e. a grandfather clock) that counts the seconds as they pass. They would symbolize the unstoppable nature of time. An old man with a scythe might represent the grim reaper or another figure of death.
Both of these symbols have to do with growing older and moving on (dying).
Hope this helps! :)
I assume its that they are poor
The literary device presented in Ophelia's song is "<em>simile</em>".
Simile is a figure of speech that compares to things with no necessity of a huge explanation. This happens when you compare two things.
In Shakespeare's masterpiece, Ophelia's song was considered to be very revealing because at that time, the way she spoke or what she said throughout the song was socially unacceptable due to the fact that she was an unmarried women and talking so openly was an issue.
