The White Goddess Literary Elements

First person plural perspective ("We")

Three stanza poem, first stanza is a sestet, the other two stanzas are octaves, AABBCC rhyme scheme

"Whose broad high brow was white as any leper's"
-line 12

"All saints revile her, and all sober men"-repetition of /r/ and /l/
-line 1

"It was a virtue not to stay,
To go our headstrong and heroic way"
-The poem is filled with contradictions, the heroes go to seek out the white goddess despite her being reviled by Apollo and saints. She is the object that they all most desire to know, despite the scorn and the wickedness associated with her, and they see virtue in this quest of getting to know her.

poetic myth

The poem includes various possibilities of the White Goddess's habitat: "Seeking her out at the volcano's head, A m o n g pack ice, or where the track had faded Beyond the cavern of the seven sleepers";the myth of the White Goddess is centrally derived from Pagan mythology.

indirect, impartial

We have an unnamed hero as a protagonist who seeks out to discover the White Goddess; White Goddess could be seen as an antagonist.

The hero, or multiple headstrong heroes set out to find the White Goddess, despite Apollo's scorn.

In the presence of the White Goddess's/Mother Earth's magnificence, our heroes realize that they can't help but forget her cruelty.

The second stanza is a foreshadowing of several cultures and places where the myth of the white goddess can be found.

N/A

"Beyond the cavern of the seven sleepers"
-line 11
-Allusion to the story of the seven sleepers which can be found in both Christian and Islamic religion, as well as Roman mythology.

"Ruled by the God Apollo's golden mean"
-line 2

"The sap of Spring in young wood a-stir
Will celebrate with green the Mother"
-lines 15-16

N/A

"And every song-bird shout awhile for her"
-line 17