Confessio Amantis Literary Elements

The poem is written from the perspective of a first person narrator.

The poem is written in an iambic pentameter.

One of the most important metaphors that appear in the poem is that of the gentle man. The gentle man is used here as a metaphor to transmit all the characteristics a good person must have and must develop.

We find alliteration in the lines "That wealth is not the root of it, /For wealth may often melt away;’’.

One of the ironic elements in the poem is the way the characters invoke ancient Gods and Goddesses from mythology despite claiming to be Christians.

Allegory

The action of the poem takes place inside a forest in an unnamed time.

The tone used in the poem is a neutral one.

The protagonist is Genius and the antagonist is Richard II.

The major conflict is between the Lover’s desire to die because he can’t fulfill his desire to love and his desire to serve God.

The poem reaches its climax when the Lover decides to abandon his sinful feelings.

The Lover’s weak nature is foreshadowed by the description of the statue made out of clay and iron in the first chapter.

The Lover's claim in the beginning that he will not be able to live without love is an understatement because he later agrees he has to give up his unhealthy passion.

It is alluded that the lover either loves someone who is already in a relationship of someone who is considered unworthy to be loved when Genius tries to cleanse him of the "unhealthy’’ love he harbored.

The term "flock" is used in the poem as a term to make reference to the people who were loyal to the church and to make reference to individual congregations.

We find personification in the line "wealth sings’’.

We find a hyperbole in the lines "On every head a crown was seen, /As if each lady were a queen;’’.

No onomatopoeia can be found.