Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The speakers in this collection consist of flowers and plants, a gardener-poet, and an omniscient deity. The poems are written in first and second-person perspectives.
Form and Meter
Free Verse
Metaphors and Similes
Metaphors:
The first lines of "The Wild Iris" read, "At the end of my suffering / there was a door." This is a metaphor for the speaker's faith in the transformation and change that will occur after experiencing suffering.
The "deep blue / shadows on azure seawater" are a metaphor for the color of the iris flower.
In "Vespers" (#4), the light of twilight falling on lilies is compared to lamps.
Similes:
In "Vespers" (#4), Glück uses simile to compare peace to "bright light through the bare tree," and differentiates it from "sustenance the flower holds."
In "Retreating Light," the deity compares humans to young children through the use of simile.
Alliteration and Assonance
"a soul and unable to speak...the stiff earth" ("The Wild Iris," Lines 12-13), alliteration of /s/
"your personal passion..." ("Witchgrass," Line 26), alliteration of /p/
"...until twilight makes / lamps of the first lilies" ("Vespers" #4, Lines 8-9), alliteration of /l/
"So I gave you pencil and paper" ("Retreating Light," Line 5), alliteration of /p/
Irony
N/A
Genre
Lyric Poetry, Spiritual Poetry
Setting
Many of the poems are set in an earthly garden.
Tone
"The Wild Iris," "Matins" (#5), and "Retreating Light" are hopeful and emotive. "Witchgrass" is written in a contemptuous and disdainful tone. "Vespers" (#4) is both serene and restless.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist of the "Matins" and "Vespers" poems is the part of the gardener-poet that is hopeful and has faith in herself and God. The antagonist of the prayer poems is the part of the gardener-poet that suffers from fear, disbelief in the divine, and unhappiness. In "Witchgrass," plants labeled and targeted as weeds are the protagonist and humans are the antagonists. In "Retreating Light," the protagonist is the Creator and the antagonist is humankind when they were incapable of taking ownership of their lives.
Major Conflict
The major conflict at work in the collection is misunderstandings or lack of communication between humans, the natural world, and the divine.
Climax
The climax of "The Wild Iris" occurs after the flower recounts experiencing death and returns to find its voice, speaking in metaphor to describe its life: "a great fountain, deep blue / shadows on azure seawater" (Lines 22-23).
The climax in "Witchgrass" is when the plant declares that it will remain on the earth when humans and their gardens are gone.
In "Matins" (#5), the climax is when the speaker opens to the possibility of continuing on without a divine sign.
In "Vespers" (#4), the climax occurs when the speaker defines the way she experiences peace.
The climax of "Retreating Light" occurs when the deity observes the gardener-poet sitting by the window until "the summer morning disappears into writing" (Line 26).
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
Glück alludes to the Fall of humankind by placing the setting of many of these poems in a garden where the gardener-poet reckons with things such as shame, disconnection, and suffering.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Plants are personified throughout the collection.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
N/A
