Simile

“Not like a Cypress” is written almost entirely as a simile. Similes are figures of speech in which one subject is likened to another. A sign that a simile is in place is the use of the word “like.” The poem begins with a negative simile: “Not like a cypress”; what follows is “but like the grass.” This pattern continues throughout the poem, offering readers verbal images of what the subject is and what the subject is not. The use of similes adds depth to a poem by painting pictures with words. For example, without trying to decipher the meaning of these words, the reader can enjoy the following lines for the impressions they give: “. . . to be breathed in / like the air all year long / and scattered like blossoming in springtime.”

Echo

An echo in poetry refers to the repetition of particular sounds, syllables, words, phrases, or lines...