A Word is dead

Just considering the title, the reader may aspect the poem to deal with words and their life. They are probably leaving entities because the speaking voice uses the word “Dead”.

This poem consists of six lines with two tercets: the first one expresses the common peoples' opinion and the second one reports the poetess' one.

This structure is used by the poetess to underline the two different opinions presented in the text that show opposites thoughts about the word and its life.

Tha layout shows the composition consists of six lines arranged into two similiar patterns, two tercet that is stanza of three lines each, separated by a full stop.

Taking structure into a count, the reader has to read the text to find out content and later become aware of the function of the two tercets in the economy of the poem.

The speaking voice reports common people’s opinion about the life of a word once it is said. At the same time, the speaker expresses her point-of-view on the matter discussed and asserts her strong opinion: words start living when said.

There is no doubt structure helps meaning in that the two stanzas contain two differents perspective on the topic discussed.

The alternation of passive and active form of verbs add to meaning. “it is said” in the first tercet find its correspondent expression in “I say” in the secondo ne. There is no need to highlight how passivity and activity refer to opposite states of life and as a result the intelligent reader may well understand that meaning is the result of a contrast thet shows its strenght through structure, verb form and last but not least syntax and semantic choices.