Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
Speaker of the poem: omniscient/the poet
Point of view: third person/first person
Form and Meter
Seven stanza poem, first four stanzas are sextet, next two are octet, and the final is a quatrain, AABBCC rhyme scheme
Metaphors and Similes
From the poem "The Spider and the Fly", the spider is a metaphor of cunningness and the fly is a metaphor of naivety.
Alliteration and Assonance
"'Sweet creature!' said the Spider"-repetition of /s/
Irony
Dramatic irony: The fly resists to fall for the spider's trap until he uses flattery of her appearance to lure her in.
Genre
children's literature
Setting
Most of the poem take place in some form of Nature's setting to deliver an important message to the reader.
Tone
Contemplative
Protagonist and Antagonist
In "The Spider and the Fly" the protagonist is the cautious fly and the antagonist is the cunning spider.
Major Conflict
The cunning spider tries to lure a fly into his deadly trap by praising himself and his comfortable den. The fly is cautious and doesn't fall for it at first.
Climax
Unfortunately for the fly, the spider turns the praise and flattery onto her, praising her eyes and wings, which results in her letting her guard down and falling into the spider's deadly trap.
Foreshadowing
"They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!'"-the fly, line 12
Understatement
"And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!'"-the spider, line 10
Spider uses sweet words of praise and comfort to lure the fly in, but beneath those words there is an understated way he reveals the truth of his intent.
Allusions
"I saw a little Wood-Mouse once,
Like Oberon in his hall"-the poem "The Wood-Mouse"
Metonymy and Synecdoche
"A happy smile on each young lip"-the poem "Summer Song of the Strawberry-Girl
-the expression "young lip" is used to represent an entire group of young people
Personification
I saw him sit and his dinner eat,
All under the forest tree;
His dinner of Chestnut ripe and red,
And he ate it heartily.
-the poem "The Wood-Mouse
-the entire poem is a personification of a small wood mouse describing his usual routine.
Hyperbole
"Thy food, the honey from the flower,
Thy drink, the dew from heaven!"-the poem "The Humming-Bird"
Onomatopoeia
"With buzzing wings she hung aloft"-the poem "The Spider and the Fly"
