{ March 25, 2008 @ 5:07 am }
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{ A.P English, Homework }
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- Describe the form and structure of the poem. What is the occasion of the poem? What two reasons does the speaker give for refusing to promise a committed love? What compromise does she suggest at the end?
- There are three, 8-line stanzas. It is alternating rhyme in the scheme abababab cdcdcdcd efefefef. The poem is a speaker rejecting a lover telling him that they do not know each other’s past nor can they know the pasts. The speaker also says they cannot tell what will come in the future and so, they should avoid heartache. The speaker tells the lover that to avoid them having their hearts broken, they should just be friends.
- Analyze the effect on the meaning of such devices as syntax, repitition, parallelism and paradox.
- Repitition is used with the word “promise”. This repition is used to get the point accrossed that the speaker believes their love is nothing more than promises. Line four is a paradox, “Never false and never true”. This is used to say that their promises are not true, but they are not intentional lies. They aren’t meaning to break them but they are. The parallelism of each partner promising shows that each of them tries but the promises are useless on both sides.
- Analyze the effect on meaning of the imagery and figurative language.
- The imagery and language help to strengthen the point that promises are easily broken. The title itself is an old proverb meaning that promises, like pie-crusts, are made to be broken. This helps establish the fealing of ending a relationship with the old saying, “Let’s just be friends”. The images show the hopelessness of the promises and the sureness of friends.
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