William Dickey's The Lumbar Executive

The poets lack of respect in his tone along with the irony of his counsel get across to the reader in an indirect yet effective

The first stanza of the poem uses metaphors portray the writer point of view and imprint on the reader. The line, ‘night that covers me’, refers to death that hangs over him whist in hospital and the pain that never leaves him. He uses ‘black as the pit from pole to pole’ as an extended metaphor to emphasize that he is surrounded and there is no place for him to turn to. Using these techniques push the reader to imagine the hardship of his life and his suffering. With the 3rd and 4th line, ‘I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul’, he is not selective in thanking any god in particular but to any higher being able to help him withstand his punishment.

The poem rhymes every second and fourth line of each paragraph to highlight how they relate to each other. For example, the lines: “Others claim that it 's the rain / While some may be looking for pain / ” (6 & 8), connect rain and pain to each other and how some people connect those things to happiness. Although the rhyme schemes of these two pieces do not seem alike, they are because each rhyme two lines of a paragraph to identify their significance to the overall piece. They move the story along and reveal a

The poem takes place on a “midnight dreary” while the narrator feels “weak and weary” (Poe 1). The setting adds to the overall mood of poem by creating a somber atmosphere. The “dying embers” of the fire add to the depressing aura and represent the narrator’s dying spirit (Poe 8). He has lost his passion in life and does not know how to continue living without Lenore.

He also repeats “higher” three times in stanza two. This gives the poem that over-the-top feeling that makes it seem magical. Lastly, he uses rhythm to give the reader an easier way to read the poem, as well as much needed structure. Each of his stanzas are written with the lines in a pattern of, long, long, short, short, short, long.

The poet compared the graves like a shipwreck that is the death will take the human go down and drowning to the underground like the dead bodies in the graves. The last line “as though we lived falling out of the skin into the soul.” is like the rotting of the dead bodies. The second stanza there is one Simile in this

The final stanza incorporates a lot of emotions from the speaker such as unconditional love, fear, regrets, compassion, and hatred. This then opens the reader to a type of coldness that appeals on a totally emotional level. For example in the first line of the last stanza “speaking indifferently to him” meaning that child is being cold towards the father very much like the weather outside. Then in the third line of the last stanza “polished my good shoes as well” is his father showing love once again. Although kisses and hugs are nice showing a sense of compassion his father shows his love is a different way he shows his love by doing his manly duties and making their home is warm before the rest of the family awakes and making sure they look good.

The way I was writing before and after has really upgraded. I would see my work before and after and now am really shocked to see how much I’ve changed. Starting from the very first days in the class doing pre-writing journals, then moving to bigger assignments like doing different essays like the Memoir and analyzing Rhetorical Analysis were a drastic change. Learning certain chapters and lessons my fellow classmates taught us really helped, for example learning

The accompaniment is consistent and a driving force. It is meant to depict the first and fourth stanzas of the poem, in which the character dreams

In the last five lines of the poem, a metaphor is used to enhance the despair of the poem more deeply. He says " And I have seen dust from the walls of institutions, Finer than flour, alive, more dangerous than silica"

Although they are all different, they each relate to a common topic. Codrington wrote the first four verses in the same format with four lines each but, the fifth and sixth are made up of three and five lines. This is because there is a change. In the fifth stanza, the speaker begins questioning how others feel with the same illness as them and whether or not they go through the same battles as them. In the last verse, the speaker goes back to talking about themselves and what they see in front of them.

In the first stanza, there is rhyming with the second and fourth lines followed by a dash. The rhythm is a longer line followed by a shorter line. This helps the poem flow but then stop with the short line and dash. The “certain Slant of light” is the focus of the whole poem (1). It is peculiar that she uses the word certain.

The whole poem is a single stanza of four, cross rhymed quatrains, ABAB. Furthermore every line has iambic pentameter; ten syllables complimented with five stressed and unstressed beats. This creates a steady and calm rhythm. Contrary to the poem’s topic of war. In only one line does he not use this; “And went outside and slashed with fury with it” this helps the reader understand his hatred towards war; the “nettles”.

For example in stanza five there are two rhyming triplets. The tone of the poem also changes accordingly to the action in the poem, the rhyme, rhythm and measure. At first skeptical, almost discouraging, but after it gains hope. At a point that hope shatters and the tone becomes grave and sorrow. The poem as well as the charge end quietly in a plain stanza, the last stanza which different but still inspirational.

The last stanza consists of 12 lines. This is a funeral march and therefore a slower moving stanza which is achieved by the many commas used. The poem is written in chronological