Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
"Sestina: Bob" poem
-Speaker of the poem: a flower-deliverer jealous at a guy named Bob:
-Point of view: first person
Form and Meter
free verse
Metaphors and Similes
"Our prayers are answered,
even if the words we say
are just dreamt-of
admissions of love to strangers" -"Psalm"
Alliteration and Assonance
"The King of Sweden is a secret service agent." - "This is True"
-repetition of /s/
Irony
The poem "This is True" could be seen in its entirety as a mocking irony of conspiracy theories.
"(Everyone in the United States is actually John F. Kennedy.)" - the final line separated from the rest of the poem is the best representation of the mockery.
Genre
satire
Setting
issues of the modern times, particularly of the United States
Tone
cynical, contemplative
Protagonist and Antagonist
"Sestina Bob"-Protagonist: a flower delivery boy jealous of Bob; Antagonist: a successful professor called Bob
Major Conflict
"Sestina Bob"-The speaker of the poem is a flower-deliverer who is jealous of the success of the man who stole his girlfriend.
Climax
"Sestina Bob"-The previous girlfriend of the flower-deliverer married Bob, and he is filled with dark thoughts about Bob while bobbing his head.
Foreshadowing
"Somebody sees that light."-"Psalm"
-The poem ends with this line to signify that there is hope and meaning in everything. The light in the kitchen of a drunk man asleep is also there for someone to see.
Understatement
The entire "This is True" poem is an understated mockery of ridiculous conspiracies.
"You know all those people in the commercials?
They’re all secret service agents."
Allusions
"Elizabeth Taylor is a secret service agent.
Mr. Ed – the horse – worked for the CIA and ordered JFK’s assassination."
The "This is True" poem contains various allusions to real life events and real people throughout.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"nobody, just a flower-deliverer, Bob,
and a skinny one at that, Bob—" -"Sestina: Bob"
Personification
"See. Even that ladder leaning up against the barn
wants to make you feel better." -"Psalm"
Hyperbole
"See. Even that ladder leaning up against the barn
wants to make you feel better.
See how easily the dew collects on its white slats,
the way the morning hardly breathes?" -"Psalm"
The entire poem is an exaggerated expression of meaning and beauty to inspire faith and hope.
Onomatopoeia
"Me? On a dark and stormy sea of Bob-thoughts, desperately, I bob.)"
-"Sestina: Bob"
"the way the morning hardly breathes?"
-"Psalm"
