Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is told in first-person narrative from the protagonist's point of view.
Form and Meter
Free-verse
Metaphors and Similes
"Or perhaps what we seek lives outside of speech, like a tribe of goats.” The poet wonders why the love is silent and compares the silence to a tribe of goats that do not speak.
Alliteration and Assonance
Alienation is in the poem's last line, “Our name our name our name our fraught, fraught name." The poet emphasizes that their union is shared and the boyfriend should not keep quiet when making inquiries.
Irony
The primary irony is that the poet is committed to the relationship, but her lover is not, and he demonstrates so by not responding to her letters.
Genre
First-person narrative poem
Setting
Set in 1972 in Falmouth, Massachusetts
Tone
The tone is cautionary.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The speaker is the protagonist, and the antagonist is the patriarchal system.
Major Conflict
There is a major conflict between the poet and her lover because he does not respond to her letters.
Climax
The climax comes when a person reflects alone on the best way to move forward after an uneventful circumstance.
Foreshadowing
Problems in marriage are foreshadowed by failure to learn the basics before committing.
Understatement
The breeze blows and scatters trees just a little.
Allusions
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Goats are personified as a tribe having a conversation.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is found in the line “On a mountain above a lake.” Mountain being above the lake is an exaggeration by the poet to imply that life at times can be a paradox.
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is found in the line, “Will it thunder up, the call of time.” The onomatopoeia in this context inquires if the person with problems can raise his voice to ask for help.
