Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The speaker in these poems is a young woman who communicates using the first-person perspective. At times, she uses the second or third-person perspective to address someone else.
Form and Meter
Free verse
Metaphors and Similes
In Lines 3-4 of "the first boy that kissed me," Kaur uses a simile to describe the way that the first boy who kissed the speaker handled her like bicycle handlebars.
In Lines 7-8 of "the first boy that kissed me," Kaur metaphorically compares the way that the boy treats the speaker to "feasting," an act which he picked up from the way his father treats the boy's own mother.
In Line 3 of "you tell me to quiet down..." the metaphor of fire in the belly describes the speaker's passion.
In Line 5 of "you tell me to quiet down..." the speaker's "lightness on [her] tongue" is a metaphor for her ease with words.
Line 8 of "you tell me to quiet down..." uses a metaphor that compares the speaker to silk and blade, suggesting that she is both soft and sharp.
The poem "-solo performance" uses performance as a metaphor for masturbation.
In "did you think i was a city," Kaur uses an extended metaphor that compares the speaker to a small and homely town as opposed to a big city. The speaker is compared to thunder, homemade jam, a crackling fireplace, home and water. She is differentiated from neon lights, skyscrapers, statues, street meat, police sirens, hotel rooms, and whiskey.
Alliteration and Assonance
"he had the smell of / starvation..." ("the first boy that kissed me," Lines 7-8): alliteration of /s/
"his father feasting..." ("the first boy that kissed me," Line 10): alliteration of /f/
"no skyscrapers or statues" ("did you think i was a city," Line 7): alliteration of /s/
"i am not the whiskey you want / i am the water you need" ("did you think i was a city," Lines 21-22): alliteration of /w/
Irony
N/A
Genre
Instapoetry
Setting
"the first boy that kissed me" takes place during the speaker's childhood (perhaps in Canada, where Kaur grew up). The rest of the poems take place in the speaker's mind.
Tone
Vulnerable, assertive
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the speaker and all the forces that guide her towards self-acceptance and love. The antagonist includes forces of oppression that attempt to subjugate the speaker based on her gender and race. The antagonist could also be anything or anyone that causes the speaker to not love herself.
Major Conflict
The major conflict throughout the collection is the speaker learning how to accept and love herself despite the challenges that arise (such as abuse, heartbreak, and the demand that she not express herself).
Climax
The climax of "the first boy that kissed me" occurs when the speaker compares her feeling of emptiness to the boy's mother.
The climax occurs in "you tell me to quiet down..." when the speaker defines herself in a material way as half silk and half blade.
In "-solo performance," the climax occurs after the speaker's boyfriend encourages her to masturbate.
The climax in "did you think i was a city" happens when the speaker states that she could burn her former partner, but that he would still blush at her beauty.
In "-kaur / a woman of sikhi," the climax happens when the poet insists that her name liberates her.
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The title of the collection alludes to the Biblical promised land. However, Kaur has stated that her use of the phrase "milk and honey" refers to holistic healing practices in Ayurveda, which the poet's father uses.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The name Kaur is personified in "-kaur / a woman of sikhi" as a force that liberates the speaker and gives her a higher purpose in life.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
N/A
