Poetry is often used to show emotion and allow the poet to explain events and experiences. The forms that are employed by the poet can help to enhance the poem’s meaning. In “An Echo Sonnet” by Robert Pack, the Shakespearean sonnet is related to the meaning of the poem through the use of literary devices such as imagery, rhyme, and tone. Pack uses imagery to help enhance the meaning of his poem “An Echo Sonnet”. In line 5, Pack uses the image of a leaf that has just barely bloomed and the brilliance of the red hue causing the speaker to become delighted. This image is further explored by the echo which seems to provide insight into the grim future of the brilliant leaf, that it will soon die. The insight creates the image of a crusted brown leaf who is simply trying, much like the speaker, to hold on to the last seconds of life that remain inside of it. …show more content…
Because this poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, the rhyme scheme not only works to create fluidity from each idea, but also from the thoughts of the speaker and the responses from the echo. In line 3, the rhyme between the end of the question “heart”, and the echo’s response “art”, creates the idea that whatever resides in the speaker’s heart could be used as an individual piece of art. This idea is important because it implies that every single part of the speaker, from the idea of love once lost, to the answers provided by the echo, creates a piece of art that will be interpreted differently by different people. This enhances the meaning of the poem because it shows that even though the speaker is close to dying, the life the speaker had will be seen differently by each person that has been affected by it. In line 14, the speaker states that the echo knows if happiness resides in death. This is meaningful because the rhyme created between “ know” and “no” insinuates that the speaker’s desire to end their life will do nothing to increase their