A Garden of Anchors: Selected Poems Literary Elements

The poem entitled "OFFERINGS’’ is told from the perspective of a first person narrator, thus giving the poem a sense of authenticity.

The poems in the collection are modern poems and thus they have predictable no form and meter.

In the poem "IF YOUR MIRROR BREAKS’’ the central metaphor used in the poem is the mirror which breaks time and time again. The mirror is used in a metaphorical way to make reference to various unfortunate events which may take place in a person’s life, events that have a catastrophic consequence.

We find alliteration in the poem "WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’ in the line "where there’s a wall there’s a way.’’

An ironic element appears in the poem ‘’OFFERINGS’’ where the narrator describes a range of presents received from ‘’you’’ which more than often disappear as soon as someone touches them. Instead of the people feeling resentful and maybe betrayed because of the unreliability of the presents, the destruction of the offerings has the complete opposite effect, namely making a person more powerful and determined to succeed.

Collection of poems

The action of the poem entitled ‘’WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’ takes place near a high construction which many people try to pass over.

The tone used in the poem ‘’OFFERINGS’’ is a reverent one.

The protagonist in the poem ‘’WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’ are the people who try to overcome their problems and the antagonist is the wall, or rather the problems they have to face.

The major conflict in the poem ‘’WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’ is between the people who experience hardship in their life and their desire to overcome those problems.

The poem ‘’OFFERINGS’’ reaches its climax when the presents received by the narrator all disappear into thin air.

The subject discussed in the poem is almost every time foreshadowed by the title of the poem. For example, the title of the poem ‘’IF YOUR MIRROR BREAKS’’ foreshadows the list given in the poem concerning the necessary steps a person had to take when a traumatic event accrued.

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The "soap bubbles’’ mentioned in the poem "OFFERINGS’’ could make reference to the promises a person receives. Those promises are fragile, the person receiving them having no assurance that they will be followed through. Thus, just like a soap bubble, they could burst at any moment and leave the person who was promised, disappointed.

The word ‘’smoke’’ is used in the poem ‘’OFFERINGS’’ as a way to make reference to the unreliable nature of promises.

We find a personification in the poem ‘’WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’ in the line ‘’ a voice cries faint as in a dream from the belly of the wall’’.

We find a hyperbole in the line ‘’no thought breaks the mind’s cold spell’’ in the poem entitled ‘’GRIEF POEM’’.

We find an onomatopoeia in the line ‘’ wailing prayers to utter’’ in the poem ‘’WHERE THERE’S A WALL’’.