Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
Presumably H.D., but unclear
Form and Meter
No discernible meter or rhyme scheme. 3 stanzas; 6 lines each
Metaphors and Similes
Alliteration and Assonance
Alliteration:
"curtain of crimson": "C" sound
"fragrance of flowering": "F" sound
Irony
Genre
Modernist
Setting
Abstract; or perhaps, in nature
Tone
Sleepy, mythical, yearning
Protagonist and Antagonist
Poem written in the second person, so the protagonist is likely meant to be the reader
Major Conflict
Longing for oblivion despite the enlivening aspects of sensation and existence.
Climax
The final stanza during which the speaker imagines the reader's succumbing to "lethe."
Foreshadowing
Understatement
Allusions
The title "Lethe" is Greek and highlights H.D.'s frequent use of Greece to evoke or access a certain mood or message in her work.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Personification
Perhaps in the last few lines, the speaker imagines the "roll of the full tide" covering the reader "without question / without kiss," implying that the tide will not question or kiss the reader.
