Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poems are narrated from the perspective of a first person subjective narrator.
Form and Meter
Most of the poems are modernist poems and thus do not have a form and meter.
Metaphors and Similes
In the poem "Black Earth’’, the narrator compares herself to a hippopotamus or an alligator that comes out of a river and stays on the banks of the river just to soak the sun. The animals do not have anything to gain from their actions but they do it anyway because it brings them joy. In a similar manner, the narrator confesses that she does the same thing when she does various things that do not have a practical value apart from that it makes her feel good.
Alliteration and Assonance
We find alliteration in the line "Will/ Depth be depth, thick skin be thick, to one who can see no/ Beautiful element of unreason under it?’’.
Irony
An ironic element is presented in the poem "Black Earth’’ where the narrator talks about the way the mud drags her down, stopping her from living the life she wants to have. She notes however, ironically, that the mud also makes her feel complete and thus it only enriches her life instead of making it harder.
Genre
Meditative poems
Setting
The poem "No Swan so Fine’’ takes place at Versailles.
Tone
The tone used in the poems is neutral.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the unnamed narrator and the antagonist is the society that tries to drag people like the narrator down and that tries to dictate how they should live their lives.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the poems is that between perception and reality.
Climax
Because the poems are meditative ones, there is no climactic moment.
Foreshadowing
In the poem "Black Earth’’ the narrator mentions the way she was affected by the mud that trapped her in the lake. This scene foreshadows the way in which the narrator will be affected by the pressures many people made on her to change her ideas.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
In the poem "The Hero’’ the narrator alludes the idea that black people are heroes because of the harsh treatment they have to endure. Thus, the narrator transmits the idea that everyday people we pass by everyday can be the heroes we seek and the type of behavior we should try and imitate.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
No metonymy or synecdoche can be found in the poems.
Personification
We find personification in the line "Time (…) has looked at the electricity’’.
Hyperbole
No hyperbole can be found in the poems.
Onomatopoeia
We find onomatopoeia in the line "That tree trunk without /Roots, accustomed to shout’’.
