Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The action in the poem is told from the perspective of a third-person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
The poem is written in a heroic couplet form.
Metaphors and Similes
Childbirth is compared in the poem with the actions a saint may do to help the people. This comparison has the purpose of transmitting the idea that women and men are equals and even though they have different roles in life, they should not be treated or seen differently.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the lines "Where Saints and Angells do attend her Throne,/ And she gives glorie unto God alone".
Irony
The main irony pointed out by the narrator is the way in which the Christians continue to want to help the people around them even though they were persecuted and even killed for their belief.
Genre
The poem is a narrative one.
Setting
The action takes place on the night when Jesus Christ died on the Olive Mountain.
Tone
The tone is a violent one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Jesus Christ and the antagonists are those who wanted to see Jesus Christ die.
Major Conflict
There are two major conflicts in the poem. The first one is a religious one and is between the Christian world and those who are unfaithful and another conflict between men and women.
Climax
The poem reaches its climax when Jesus Christ is crucified.
Foreshadowing
The fact that the narrator mentions Jesus Christ in the first line of the poem foreshadows the religious nature of the poem.
Understatement
In the first part of the poem the narrator claims that men and women are equals. This is however an understatement because later in the poem the narrator admits that women are treated as being inferior by the society ran by men.
Allusions
One of the main allusions used in the poem is the idea that society should strive to treat men and women as equals. The narrator claims that this equality would help the community and the economy.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term pen is used in the poem as a general term to make reference to a person's possibility to influence other people through their writing.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "To pen thy praise, when few can equall it".
Hyperbole
We have a hyperbole in the lines "As you commaunded me in that faire night,/ When shining Phoebe gave so great a grace".
Onomatopoeia
We have an onomatopoeia in the line "my heart sings thy praise".
