The Prodigal

The Prodigal

Alliteration
1. "Light-lashed"
2. "faint forked"
personification
1. "self-righteous"
2. "the first star came to warn"
biblical allusion
1. "The Prodigal"
2. "safe and companionable as in the Ark"
3. "a pacing aureole"
sensuous imagery
1. "plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung"
2. "the sunrise glazed the barnyard mud with red: the burning puddles seemed to reassure"
3. "a slimy board"
4. "The brown enormous odor"
onomatopoeia
1. "overhanging clouds of hay"
theme
1. redemption
2. the strength of the human spirit
tone
1. bleak &depressing in 1st stanza
2. becomes cautiously optimistic in the 2nd stanza
3. begins to change at the word "But"
metaphor
1. The Prodigal is a metaphor for an alcoholic, specifically the poet herself.

Resource summary

	Created by Stephanie Tormey about 7 years ago