Figure of speech and elements of the poem

Lines

Words, expression or descriptions

Why does the poet use it?

Rhyme scheme

Vv 1-5

It follows the scheme ABABA

The poet uses the rhymes to put in evidence the semantic field of calmness (stream, light, dream, forgetting, afar, …) and to give a particular slow rhythm to this ode

Vv 6-9

It follows the scheme ABBA

Vv 59- 64

Vv 68- 73

It follows the scheme ABABCC

Vv 74- 77

It follows the scheme AABB

Vv 65- 67

No rhyme scheme

The poet doesn’t use rhymes in those three lines to give they importance, to evidence they in this text. – This is an outpouring about man’s condition and the only exclamation in all the extract

Poetic language

All the extract

It is very poetical, refined and elegant, very different from common day language

It is used to confirm the poet form of poetry choice. It communicated a sense of importance, refinement and elaboration which, maybe, was too difficult to impress in a poem using every day language.

Climax

Vv 60- 77

“soul – God – boy – Youth – Nature youth – nature priest”

It is used to involve the reader in the poem. The poet starts before the man birth (“soul- God”) and he retrace his path to the adult state, the target of reader of this poem

Synecdoche

Vv 1- 2

“meadow, grove, and stream the earth, and every common sight”

Those words are used in reference to whole Nature to make this first show more touching, lived and involving

Alliteration

Vv 1-2 (“m” sound)

“time, meadow, stream, common”

Alliterations contribute with rhymes to create a musical effect to attract the reader attention

Vv 60-62 (“th” sound)

“the, that, with, hath had, cometh”

V 69 (“sh” sound)

“shades of the prison -house”

Metaphor

V 59

“our birth is asleep”

Our life is only appearance, like in dreams we forget our adventures just terminated links, in real life we rapidly forget our relation with God. In particular the first metaphor is used to say that we don’t have the total control of our life (like when we dream) while the second one is used to underline the aspect of the memory that is destined to be delete

V 59

“our birth is a forgetting”

V 60

“the soul… our life star”

the poet use this metaphor to say that a soul is like a star, it is far but hot and shining and it is a reference in our day life

V 66

“God is our home”

It is a religious link to say that God is the beginning and the end of our life, first and after our life we are in God.

V 68

“shades of the prison-house”

The prison-house is the world. This metaphor is used in opposition to the heaven in which babies grow, and the poet uses the word “shades” to put in evidence the aspect of ignorance, losing and confusion

Vv 72-73

“the youth… nature priest”

The metaphor is used to say that youth is the intermediary between adults and God, like a priest is a intermediary between common people and the divinity