Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The first part of the poem is told from the perspective of a first-person subjective point of view and the second part is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.
Form and Meter
The poem is written in a heroic couplet form.
Metaphors and Similes
The flower which appears in the first part of the poem is used as a metaphor to represent women and their power to attract people.
Alliteration and Assonance
We have an alliteration in the lines "Will take a wife, or poor or rich,/ As goddess fair, or like a witch".
Irony
One of the most ironic ideas in the poem is the way in which even though women are sometimes described in extremely negative terms, they are still sought after by the main male characters in the poem.
Genre
Medieval court poem.
Setting
The action described in the poem takes place in the distant past at a French court.
Tone
The tone used in the poem is a combination between a reverential one and a desperate one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the flower and the antagonist is the boy who tries to steal it.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the poem is presented as being between the urge to fulfill one's desires and the need to do what is right.
Climax
The poem reaches its climax when the young boy is thrown out of the garden.
Foreshadowing
At the beginning of the poem, the narrator describes how he was tempted by the rose in the garden and how he found it almost impossible to resist it. This foreshadows the event described in the second part of the poem when the young boy finds himself in a similar predicament as the narrator in the first part.
Understatement
In the second part of the poem, the guards in the garden are described as being negative characters who only want to hurt those who enter the garden. This is later proven to be an understatement when the narrator admits the guards have the responsibility of protecting the defenseless flower.
Allusions
One of the main allusion we find in the poem is the idea that not only the woman is responsible for protecting her virtue but rather that those close to her have this responsibility as well.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The young boy is used as a general character to make reference to those men who are unable to control themselves when falling in love.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "insensate pride".
Hyperbole
We have a hyperbole in the line "Hard task hath he who striveth back To call them to a decent sense".
Onomatopoeia
We have an onomatopoeia in the line "With miseries manifold; slack!".
