Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poems are narrated from a first person subjective point of view.
Form and Meter
Because this is a collection of modern poetry, there is no form and meter.
Metaphors and Similes
In the poem entitled "Muse’’ the narrator compares his poems to a house and the creative process to the action of building a house. This comparison is important because it transmits the idea that the creative process is an extremely complex one that takes a lot of time and effort.
Alliteration and Assonance
We find alliteration in the live "Silver will lie where she lies’’ in the poem entitled "Mule Song’’.
Irony
We find an ironic elements in the poem "Easter Morning’’ when the author expresses his desire to leave a place which had caused him pain but at the same time realizing that he can’t leave that place because it is the only place that makes him feel safe.
Genre
Most of the poems are either meditative poems or allegories.
Setting
Because most of the poems are allegories, they have no fixed setting.
Tone
The tone used in most of the poems is a tragic and sad one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
In the poem entitled "Easter Morning’’ the protagonist is the little boy and the antagonist is death or the passage of time.
Major Conflict
In the poem entitled "Silver’’ the major conflict is between the mule and the snake or rather between the farmers and the society in which they lived in.
Climax
In the poem entitled "Mule Song’’, the poem reaches its climax when the mule is sold and killed by a stranger.
Foreshadowing
The mentioning of the graves in the beginning of the poem "Easter Morning’’ foreshadows the mentioning of all the people the narrator used to know and died before him.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
In the poem entitled "City Limits’’, the narrator talks about the bones of bird left in plain light. These bones could be used to symbolize the secrets every person has and by mentioning how they are left in plain sight the author may allude to the fat that some secrets are not considered as being bad by the public who more than often choses just to ignore them and not call out the people who try to hide those things.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
In the poem entitled "Corsons Inlet’’ the term "lines’’ is used in a general sense to make reference to the memories a person has and the memories that eventually get modified as time passes.
Personification
We find personification in the line "the air that holds the world’’.
Hyperbole
We find a hyperbole in the line "thousands of tree swallows / gathering for flight:’’.
Onomatopoeia
We find onomatopoeia in the line "the birds are lively with voice" in the poem "Eastern Morning’’.
