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- Sonnet
- Although the poem does not follow the structure of a traditional sonnet, it does follow a sonnet's form in spirit
- Sonnets traditionally ask a question that is followed by an answer, which this sonnet does
- Describes father's actions in first 5 lines
- Shows boy's response in the next 7 lines
- Ends with couplet that poses ultimate theme of the poem now that the narrator has grown old (unrequited love)
- Alliteration
- K sounds in “cracked” (line 3), “ached” (line 3), “blueblack cold” (line 2), “chronic” (line 9), “wake” (line 6)
- Harsh sounds (cacophony) create a sense of tearing down
- Diction
- Blueblack cold- the mixture of colors and the combining of the two words creates a sense of cold and darkness (line 2)
- Cracked, ached (line 3)
- Splintering, breaking (line 6)
- Negative connotations to portray the harshness of the cold and dissention
- Imagery
- Blueblack cold (line 2) – vivid description of ice and cold
- Splintering, breaking (line 6) – sounds of ice breaking or wood splintering
- Cracked hands that ached (line 3) – depicts hard, outdoor work in cold, dry air
- Shows that the father has worked hard to provide for his family
- Metaphor
- Cold symbolizes the relationship in the family between mother, father, and son (line 2, 11)
- love's austere and lonely offices (line 14) - portray's father's lonely love for his son
- Onomatopoeia
- Splintering, breaking (line 6) – depicts the actual sounds of ice breaking
- Personification
- House is personified through being portrayed to have angers (line 9)
- Shows dissension in the people in the house
- Rough childhood- resembled in this poem
- Repetition
- What did I know, what did I know (line 13)
- Emphasizes his lack of understanding of his father's love
- Shows the lack of feeling and perception of no love in the house
