Amy Lowell: Poems Literary Elements

The poems are narrated from a first person subjective point of view.

Some of the poems are written in a modernist way without form or meter but some of the poems such as the poem entitled ‘’A Little Song’’ is written in iambic pentameter.

No metaphors and similes were found.

We find alliteration in the line "golden hoofs upon’’.

In the poem entitled "Patterns’’, the narrator talks about a beautiful grown she wears while walking through a beautiful garden. At one point, she claims that, ironically, she would like to see the grown on the ground, as far away from her as possible because it constricts her every move.

Some of the poems such as "Patterns’’ are narrative poems while other poems such as ‘’November’’ and ‘’A Lady’’ are confession poems.

In the poem entitled "Patterns’’, the action takes place in a private garden but other poems do not have a fixed setting.

The tone in the poem "A Lady’’ is a playful one and in the poem ‘’November’’ is a slightly more depressive one.

In the poem "Night Clouds’’ the protagonists are the mares and the antagonists are the tigers that chase them and try to kill them.

In most of the poems, the conflict is between the author’s desire to do what she wants and the social restrictions imposed on her.

In "Patterns,’’ the poem reaches its climax when the narrator finds that her lover was killed in the war.

The meaning of the title of the poem "Obligation’’ foreshadows the way in which the author will talk about her desire to please an unnamed person.

In the poem entitled "Patterns’’, the narrator thinks about her lover and how he would come to her in the garden and take her in his arms. This is however an understatement as in the last stanza is revealed that the narrator’s lover is dead.

In the poem entitled "Night Clouds’’ the white mares are described as standing on their hind legs while trying to enter heaven. The fact that the mares are standing on their hind legs is an allusion to the fact that they are ready for battle and willing to do everything to get into Heaven.

The term "patterns" is used in the poem entitled "Patterns’’ as a general term to make reference both to people who have to obey certain strict rules and people who are caught in various wars.

We find personification in the poem "November’’ in the lines "The vine leaves (…) are rusty and broken.’’

We find hyperbole in the lines "Or the tigers will leap upon you and destroy you/With one lick of his vermillion tongue’’.

No onomatopoeia can be found.