Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The speaker is a third person observer of the events as they unfold. The speaker is not intended to be a character in their own right, but more of a reporter of events.
Form and Meter
The poem is comprised of two stanzas of uneven length. It is an iambic pentameter.
Metaphors and Similes
The moonlight shining into Abou Ben Adhem's bedroom makes it appear "like a lily in bloom"
Alliteration and Assonance
"Deep dream" is an alliteration at the beginning of the poem.
Irony
Those who strive to make it appear that they love God believe that they will be top of God's list of those he will bless; this is ironic because God sees through this façade and puts humans who truly love their fellow humans at the top of his list of those whom he will bless.
Genre
Romantic poem; fable
Setting
The poem is set in Abou Ben Adhem's bedroom after he awkens from a peaceful sleep, but it is still the middle of the night when he does so as the room is said to be "moonlit".
Tone
The tone is similar to that of a fable; it is a happy and uplifting "teachable" narrative.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Ben Abou Adhem is the protagonist; the antagonists are those who pay lip service to their love of God without doing anything in their own lives to demonstrate it
Major Conflict
There is no real conflict in the poem.
Climax
The climax comes when Abou Ben Adhem finds that his name is at the top of the list of those blessed by God, which indicates that the way to God is by loving other people.
Foreshadowing
The fact that he is not on the first list foreshadows Abou Ben Adhem's reaction but in a positive way; he is not discouraged but asks to be written down as a man who loves his fellow men. This in turn foreshadows his appearance on the second list.
Understatement
The angel's appearance is an understatement as it is not just a vision, or an "appearance", but a sign from God that Abou Ben Adhem is important in the eyes of God.
Allusions
The poem alludes to the "false Christians" who say that they love God but do not live in a way that demonstrates this.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The list is actually a representation of all of the individual people who appear on it.
Personification
It is said that the angel is "writing in a book of gold." In this instance, the angel is endowed with human-like writing and name-recording abilities, so imputing human behavior to a divine entity. This personification contributes to the abstract idea of divine judgment becoming more approachable and tangible.
Hyperbole
When the angel appears to Abou Ben Adhem there is an emphasis on light, and on an element of glistening, because the book that the angel is writing in is gold, and shiny, which is hyperbolic in its traditional angelic appearance.
Onomatopoeia
N/A
