Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Form and Meter
The poem employs various meters throughout, but consistently uses rhyming couplets
Metaphors and Similes
Alliteration and Assonance
Trochee trips
Stately stride
Slow Spondee stalks; strong
Irony
Genre
Poetry
Setting
Tone
Humorous; Loving; Educational
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: Derwent Coleridge
Major Conflict
Although not a conflict per se, the poem is concerned with educating Coleridge's son, Derwent, on poetic form and terminology.
Climax
At the close of the poem, Coleridge states that if Derwent learns to express himself poetically, then he will win both God's love and the love of his father (Coleridge). However, he makes a point of expressing his already vast love for his son in the poem's last line.
Foreshadowing
Understatement
Allusions
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Personification
Each metrical foot is personified: as stalking, tripping, making haste, etc.
