In "Elegy for Jane" by Theodore Roethke, the poet writes about his student Jane, who has died in a horse back riding accident. Throughout this poem, Roethke develops a tone of sadness and mourning for his lost student, as well as a fondness for her. He does this in a few ways, one of them being figurative language. In Roethke's "Elegy for Jane", the use of figurative language, such as personification, simile, and metaphor, contribute to the tone of sadness and grief as well as a fondness for Jane. Roethke's use of figurative language helps develop the tone of the poem. His use of personification expresses his fondness for Jane. For example, the entire second stanza of the poem is nature being personified. Roethke does this to show what Jane