Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
Third-person subjective point of view
Form and Meter
Free verse
Metaphors and Similes
The incredible power is a metaphor that symbolizes the authority of the holy spirit that enabled Mathew to write the Gospel. The narrator says:
“Was Matthew one, who first among the Jews
Began to write the Gospel down in words
With extraordinary power.”
Alliteration and Assonance
Alliteration is in the line ‘Upon the field of fate. Of that brave band.”
Irony
The paradox is that the cross put up with the pain of Jesus’ citification.
Genre
Religious poem
Setting
Written in the context of a verbal recount of the religious events during preaching to a congregation
Tone
Informative, enlightening, and sanguine
Protagonist and Antagonist
Christ is the protagonist in the poem 'Dream of the Rood,' and the narrator is the protagonist in the poem 'Soul and Body.'
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between the power of God and the wicked forces that people believe in, which contradicts the narrator's opinion about the Holy Spirit.
Climax
The climax comes when everyone, including the evil, fears to dare and go against the word of God.
Foreshadowing
God's authority foreshadows the raising of a tree from the ground.
Understatement
The bravery of warriors in battle is understated.
Allusions
The poem alludes to the influence of God on humanity.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Crashed helmets are used as a metonymy for the worst-case scenario.
Personification
The ‘tree of the lord’ is personified when it begins to speak.
Hyperbole
The hyperbole is in the line, “Failed never, e'en when helmets crashed in war’ when the narrator says they survive even after their helmets have crashed in war.
Onomatopoeia
N/A
