John Lydgate: Poems Literary Elements

John Lydgate: Poems Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The poem “The London Lackpenny” is told from the perspective of a first person subjective point of view.

Form and Meter

The poem “The Testament of John Lydgate” is written in an iambic pentameter.

Metaphors and Similes

In the poem “The Floure Of Curtesye”, the narrator uses the month of February as a metaphor to represent death. In this poem, the narrator describes the way in which everything dies in the month of February and thus the month becomes used here as a metaphor.

Alliteration and Assonance

We find an alliteration in the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis” in the line””

Irony

N/A

Genre

The poem “The Testament of John Lydgate” is a meditative poem.

Setting

The action in the poem “That Now Is Hay Some-Tyme Was Grase “ takes place in a meadow in an unnamed time.

Tone

The tone in the poem “The London Lackpenny” is a depressive and desperate one.

Protagonist and Antagonist

In the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis” the protagonists are the people described by the narrator as being God-fearing and the antagonist is the Devil who brings pain and suffering.

Major Conflict

The major conflict in the poem “The Floure Of Curtesye” is between life and death.

Climax

The poem “That Now Is Hay Some-Tyme Was Grase” reaches its climax when the narrator urges the reader not to trust anyone and anything in this world.

Foreshadowing

The title of the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis” foreshadows the last line of the poem in which the narrator offers to give his blood or rather his life for a greater cause.

Understatement

We find an understatement in the poem “The London Lackpenny” in the first stanza in which the narrator claims no truth can be found in London. In the later stanzas, this is proven to be an understatement.

Allusions

In the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis” the narrator alludes towards the idea that death is more desirable because it means being happy and being granted a place in Heavens where no one is suffering.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The term “tired” is used in the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis” as a general term to make reference to the troubles a person may experience during life and the desire to die as a result.

Personification

We find personification in the line “truth is no wise should be faint” in the poem “The London Lackpenny”.

Hyperbole

We find hyperbole in the line “whan the frosty moone” in the poem “The Floure Of Curtesye”.

Onomatopoeia

We find onomatopoeia in the line “crying with anguish” in the poem “Vox Ultima Crucis”.

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