language features of the poem the door

Language and visual techniques used and an explanation of their effectiveness


“Maybe” is in italics because it emphasises that what follows are only possibilities. The verbs “go” and “open” are in the imperative mood. In each stanza this contrasts strongly with the hesitant feeling of words like “maybe” and “if”. The effect of this juxtaposition is to emphasise the change of tone, from the strong tone of the order, “Go and open the door ”, to the more tentative tone in which the poet suggest the possible results of opening the door
The line “Go and open the door” begins and ends with a stressed syllable in the middle. The effect of this when reading the poem is to force the reader to read it slowly and strongly. The slow, strong beat contrasts with the almost conversational rhythm of the remainder of each stanza.
Each stanza, except the last, contains some lines which are indented from the margin. The effect of this is to present these lines as a su...