No, Thank You, John Essay Questions

How does the poem's meter reflect its themes and conflicts?

Rossetti uses an irregular and unusual meter in "No, Thank You, John," which suggests and mimics the disruptive and erratic nature of John's behavior. The first two lines of each quatrain are generally written in iambic tetrameter, so that by midway through the stanza, a fairly regular, predictable, and comfortable rhythm has been established. This rhythm is strained in the following line, where Rossetti adds an iamb, creating iambic pentameter. Finally, Rossetti completely shatters expectations with the final line of the stanza, which she shrinks rather than expands, using iambic trimeter. It therefore appears to end suddenly and prematurely, in an imitation of the sudden, uncontrollable way in which John intrudes upon the speaker's life.

Pinpoint a climactic or transitional moment in the poem and describe its importance.

This work can be roughly divided into two major sections, with a transition occurring after the fifth stanza. In the first of these two sections, the speaker's tone is more raw, angry, and unfiltered. She implores John to explain his behavior with questions like "Why will you tease me, day by day," and she uses sharp reprimands like "Use your common sense." In the second section, she appears to adopt a new, more careful strategy of compromise and coaxing. She begins stanza six with the verb "let's," proposing a mutual effort rather than discussing only John's actions or only her own. She then sets out the terms of a friendship with John, making a firm but gentle overture towards an agreement.

Compare and contrast two uses of figurative language in the context of this work.

Rossetti uses relatively little figurative language, making each instance of it memorable and stark. One of the poem's earliest images concerns John's "wan" appearance as he pursues the speaker. Here, the speaker uses metaphor to compare John to a ghost, suggesting that he is somewhat frightening and unappealing in his insistence, and simultaneously suggesting that he has reduced his own vitality through lovesickness. Later, the speaker uses another metaphor to compare the flight of a songbird to the passage of time. Similarly to the ghost metaphor, this one emphasizes mortality, impermanence, and ephemerality. However, this one stresses the value of fleeting life rather than the coming of a dreaded (if non-literal) death.