The Poems of Andrew Motion Literary Elements

The Poems of Andrew Motion Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The poem "Anne Frank Huis" is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.

Form and Meter

The poem "Losses" does not have any form and meter because it is written in blank verse.

Metaphors and Similes

The fire is used in the poem "Laying the Fire" is used as a metaphor to represent the problems everyone is bound to encounter during their lifetime and problems which have the power to destroy a person's life completely.

Alliteration and Assonance

We have an alliteration in the lines "when I find my father on his knees/ at the fireplace in the sitting-room" in the poem "Laying the Fire".

Irony

We have an irony in the poem "Passing On" when the narrator claims that unhappiness and problems instead of destroying his life only have the effect of making him stronger and more determined to continue.

Genre

"Anne Frank Huis" is a meditative poem.

Setting

The action in "Anne Frank Huis" takes place inside the house where Anne Frank lived during the Nazi occupation.

Tone

The tone in the poem "Anne Frank Huis" is a respectful one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist in "Passing On" is the narrator and his brother and the antagonist is death.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in "Passing On" is an internal one and is between the narrator's desire to witness his mother's death and the desire to protect himself from this traumatic event.

Climax

The poem "Passing On" reaches its climax when the narrator's mother dies,

Foreshadowing

The attack described at the beginning of the poem "A Moment of Reflection" foreshadows the death of the main character.

Understatement

We have an understatement in the poem "Losses" where towards the middle the narrator describes an encounter.

Allusions

One of the main allusions in the poem "Anne Frank Huis" is the idea that the political alliances created during war times do not have the best interest of the population at heart and these types of alliances are shady at best.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The Archduke Ferdinand is used in the poem "A Moment of Reflection" as a person to represent the whole ruling class who refuses to be influenced by outside events.

Personification

We have a personification in the poem "Anne Frank Huis" in the line "the bookcase slides aside".

Hyperbole

We have a hyperbole in the lines "he must have seen me/ with the eyes in the back of his head" in the poem "Laying the Fire".

Onomatopoeia

We have an onomatopoeia in the line "racing towards each other in their motorcars both shouting" in the poem "Laying the Fire".

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