Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The action in the poems is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.
Form and Meter
The poems are written in free verse.
Metaphors and Similes
We have a metaphor in the poem "No Matter, Never Mind" in which the narrator discusses the birth of the universe. In this context, the mind is used as a metaphor that represents the pinnacle of the evolution process.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the poem "The Way West, Underground" in the line "The split-cedar smoked salmon".
Irony
No ironic element can be found in the poems.
Genre
All the analyzed poems are meditative ones.
Setting
The action described in the poem "Coyote Valley Spring" takes place inside a thick forest during an autumn evening.
Tone
The tone used in the poem "The Way West, Underground" is a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
In most poems the protagonist it Mother Nature and the antagonist is man.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the poems is between nature and the destructive way of mankind.
Climax
The poem "No Matter, Never Mind" reaches its climax when the narrator describes the birth of a new element in the universe.
Foreshadowing
The smoke mentioned at the beginning of the poem "The Way West, Underground" foreshadows the later destruction described in the poem.
Understatement
At the beginning of the poem "Anasazi" the narrator claims that the mountains will always provide refuge. This is later proven to be an understatement when the narrator agrees that there are many things a person cannot escape no matter how hard she or he tries.
Allusions
The main allusion we find in the poem "The Way West, Underground" is the idea that a woman's main purpose in life is to give birth to as many children as they can.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The mountains are used in the poem "Anasazi" as a general term to make reference to spiritual superiority.
Personification
We have a personification in the poem "Anasazi" in the line "(trees) tucked up in clefts in the cliffs".
Hyperbole
The line "Women with drums who fly over Tibet" from the poem "The Way West, Underground" contains a hyperbole.
Onomatopoeia
We have an onomatopoeia in the poem "Coyote Valley Spring" in the line "the wind howling through the trees".
