Kaba 1
English 222
Aminata Kaba
Professor Son
19 February 2019
Analysis of “Dear one absent this long while”
Lisa Olsteins “Dear one absent this long while” it can be said that love is an awaitful and long process as the key message in the poem. Throughout the poem many poetic devices are used in order to convey the author's message and theme. The author uses 2 specific poetic devices such as personification, where she compares and talks about many items around her that reminds her of her lover as well the use of imagery to depict her emotions and vividly express her desperation for the arrival for her lover.
The poem “Dear one absent this long while” by Lisa Olstein is about this woman who has lost someone and how she expects to see them in every instance. She talks about the time that passes and how she awaits for them but they never arrive. The speaker uses various literary devices such as imagery and personification to convey the wistful tone of the poem. With the use of these literary devices they contribute to the emphasis on the theme of absence where the poet is using descriptive language and comparisons to portray the state that the poet is in of missing and longing for her lovers arrival.
Throughout the poem the literary device of imagery is “an element of a poem that invokes any of the 5 senses to create a set of mental images. Specifically, suing vivid or figurative language to represent ideas,objects,or actions”. The variations of the length of the lines makes the poem irregular. Due to the use of imagery the poem reads as melancholy
Kaba 2
with a smooth and slow pace to it, which affects the poem because it sets the tone for slow pace so the reader can take in the scenery as the author describes the rollercoaster of
emotions that she faces as she thinks of her lover. In the poem the author conveys the use of imagery to depict her lovers arrival stating: “you in a shiver light, but each time / leaves reveal themselves” (5...
