Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The speaker of the poem is a father who has lost his child.
Form and Meter
The poem has 101 stanzas, with 12 lines in each. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-a-b-a-b-b-c-b-c.
Metaphors and Similes
The father uses a metaphor to describe how his child is "set in shining gold."
Alliteration and Assonance
"Pearl that the Prince full well might prize."
Irony
The father describes how although his child was "without a spot" and completely innocent, they were ironically taken from him.
Genre
Dream-vision
Setting
The poem is firstly set in a garden, and then in a dream-like state, where the father visits heaven.
Tone
The tone of the poem is at first melancholy, but later becomes more hopeful.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the father, and the antagonist is death.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between the father and his feelings of grief.
Climax
The climax is when the father is shown the heavenly city.
Foreshadowing
The father foreshadows his loss in the first stanza.
Understatement
The father understates the ability of religion to console his grief.
Allusions
The poem alludes to the Christian concepts of God and Heaven.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
"Pearl" is personified as the father's child.
Hyperbole
The child is described as being the most precious jewel.
Onomatopoeia
N/A
