By: Danika Analyzed by: Will and Anson

I'm bound in a black dress Laced with frill and feather

I walk through the ashen woods Through the mud and dirty weather

I inhale the aroma of charcoal and dust

And walk slowly towards the center

I look up into the sky, rain falls upon my cheek

I gaze upon the ground, do I dare enter?

I feel the blood pulse through me Even drag itself from my skin

Placing my mutilated foot in the water Should I let myself fall in?

I sink into this oblivion And let myself go weak

I'm surrounded by the darkest pleasure No way to scream out...impossible to speak

Feels like I'm being torn From the inside out

I feel my body cleansing I crawl, with no hesitation, nor doubt

Fingers through the mud Dragging myself from the shadow

My black dress turned to white My clothing set aglow

I stand for the last time Cold wind flows through my hair

Stare into the smothered sky And weep my last tears of despair

For once I feel so beautiful My skin so pale, so pure With such an attractive innocence An irresistible allure

My tears turn to beauty As I walk from what I've left behind

No longer swamped in fear and anxiety No longer am I confined

As I walk, I feel such freedom And with happiness, I am consumed

Now eternally lost in ecstasy My deepest desires can now be abloom

 The poem is about a girl who is judged by society and is fighting throughout her life trying to escape it. She eventually does escape this and feels free from the “chains” of society  The poem addresses a social and psychological phenomenon as it deals with the social insecurities of the girl and the intense emotions she feels

 A girl is the narrator of the poem and she is writing this poem as an inspiration of herself and who she strives to be  The setting revolves around her life and it is around the present day era  Poem is very abstract and contains many connotations  Connotations can include her dress itself  Diction creates the tone of the poem

 The poem is sad, but it changes to a happy kind of tone at the end (more relieving)  Words like “oblivion” and “darkest pleasure” set a dark tone  Words like “beauty” and “innocence” set a peaceful tone  The poem is a quatrain and is iambic tetrameter  The poem is more of a closed poem  It has an end rhyme and a rhyme scheme of ABCB

 “Ashen Woods” –Line 3 (Metaphor)  “Eternally lost in ecstasy” – Line 39 (Metaphor and Hyperbole)  “Feels like I’m being torn” – Line 17 (Simile)  “Smother sky” – Line 27, “Deepest Desires – Line 40 (Alliteration)  “Deepest Desires” – Line 40 (Assonance)  “My tears turn to beauty” – Line 33 (Hyperbole)  The title is a great fit. It represents how in the end of the poem the girl was “cleansed”

 The experiences that the author creates are felt tremendously by the reader  The reader becomes aware of the authors feelings that was put into it  The poem may recreate experiences of people who have suffered the way she has and conquered over it  The poem is like an emotional rollercoaster that changes through the thoughts of the reader