Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The imaginary sister of musician Elvis Presley
Form and Meter
Free verse in six quintains, preceded by two epigraphs
Metaphors and Similes
"Lonely Street" and "Heartbreak Hotel" are, in addition to being allusions to Elvis Presley's music, metaphors for feelings of loneliness and heartbreak.
Alliteration and Assonance
"Heartbreak Hotel," which uses alliterative H sounds, is a reference to an Elvis Presley song of the same name. The same is true of the phrase "blue suede shoes," which uses assonant U sounds. The phrase "digs the way I move my hips" also uses assonance, in this case with short I sounds.
Irony
The poem's first irony is that, despite their overwhelming innate similarities, the speaker and her brother have come to lead very different lives. A less apparent irony, however, is the fact that their seemingly opposite careers have certain unexpected similarities.
Genre
Persona poem
Setting
A convent in twentieth-century America
Tone
Reflective; tranquil
Protagonist and Antagonist
The speaker is the protagonist, but this poem has no clear antagonist
Major Conflict
To the extent that the poem has a clear conflict, it is the push-and-pull between two individuals separated only by gender. The speaker and her brother are both similar and radically different, creating a tension that propels the poem.
Climax
The climax occurs in the poem's final stanza, when the speaker reflects on the peaceful and generally happy life she has led.
Foreshadowing
The poem's epigraphs foreshadow the conflicts and situations explored within—specifically the invented character of a sister for Elvis, identical to him except for her gender.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The poem is packed with allusions to the music and life of Elvis Presley, often with direct quotations from his lyrics. These include "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes," both hit songs, as well as references to the singer's smile and dance style. The poem also alludes to and quotes a Gregorian chant sung on Easter.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"The immortal soul of rock 'n' roll" is a metonymic reference to Elvis Presley himself.
Personification
N/A
Hyperbole
In the context of the poem, the second epigraph is humorously hyperbolic: the speaker is not literally a female Elvis, but is simply related to and similar to him.
Onomatopoeia
N/A
