The Task Literary Elements

The Task Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The poet is the narrator, and the poem is written in the first-person point of view.

Form and Meter

Blank verse poem

Metaphors and Similes

God is compared to moral goodness, safety and strength.

Alliteration and Assonance

“Is sing the sofa” – repetition of /s/

Irony

The irony of the sofa is evident in the poem because despite being a stationary object, it inspires the poet to write about mundane.

Genre

Lyrical poetry

Setting

The poem is set in winter when the poet and everyone else are sitting inside their warm houses.

Tone

Satirical, sarcastic

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is the poet

Major Conflict

The major conflict is when the poet reminds readers that beauty is temporal and needs to observe sanity and good morals. The poet writes: "Prospects, however, lovely may be seen Till half their beauties fade; the weary-sight…."

Climax

The poem reaches a climax when the poet uses a satirical tone to imply the need to be happy despite whatever circumstance. The poet says, "Delight us, happy to renounce a while…."

Foreshadowing

The line, "Who calls gay?" foreshadows the cultural discussion on morality.

Understatement

There is no specific example of understatement.

Allusions

“Of day-spring overshoot his humble nest.”

Metonymy and Synecdoche

The poet uses nature as a metonymy to express the mysteriousness of God’s authority.

Personification

Flash desperation

Hyperbole

N/A

Onomatopoeia

'No smartness in jest, and wonders why."

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