Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
“St. Roach” is told from the perspective of a first person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
The “Ballad of Orange and Grape” is written in a heroic couplet form.
Metaphors and Similes
“Akiba” describes various characters singing and rejoicing. The act of singing is connected with the possibility of being free and the act of taking ones future into their own hands and deciding what they want to do with their lives. Because of this, singing is used here as a metaphor for freedom.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the lines “after you've read your reading/ after you've written your say “ in the poem “Ballad of Orange and Grape”.
Irony
N/A
Genre
“St. Roach” is a meditative poem about literature.
Setting
The action described in the poem “Akiba” takes place during the night, in space.
Tone
The tone used in “Ballad of Orange and Grape” is a mocking one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The antagonist in the poem “Orgy” is the man while the protagonists are the two women he convinced to have sexual intercourse with him.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in “The Child Asleep” is between the peace described as dominating America and the chaos and violence present in Europe.
Climax
The poem “Waiting for Icarus” reaches its climax when the narrator realizes her lover will not be returning for her.
Foreshadowing
The title of the poem “Orgy” foreshadows the sexual subject of the poem.
Understatement
We find an understatement in the poem “The Child Asleep” when the narrator claims that the end of the war will mean peace and prosperity for the countries affected. This is later proven to be an understatement as the narrator claims more problems started once the war was over, making the lives of those living in the affected countries even more miserable.
Allusions
One of the main things alluded in the poem “Waiting for Icarus” is the idea that at times, dying is easier than having to live with uncertainty or not knowing if the person you loved returned the feelings. This idea is alluded through the narrator’s desire to have taken the wings instead of Icarus and thus wishing she were dead instead of waiting for a man who will never return to her.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term “night” is used in the poem “The Child Asleep” as a general term to make reference to the peace brought by living in a safe country.
Personification
We have a personification in the poem “Ballad of Orange and Grape” in the line “crummy garage”.
Hyperbole
We have a hyperbole in the poem “Akiba” in the line “The night is covered with signs”.
Onomatopoeia
The line “the rock is split and speaks to the water” in the poem “Akiba” contains an onomatopoeia.
