Edward

"Edward" by Anonymous

"O I have killed my father dear, Alas, and woe is me, O!" (Anonymous, page 978).

The central focus of the poem sits with Edward's admittance of killing his father. Edward seems to have no connection with his family. He admits to killing his father and wanting to leave his family in order to penance for what he has done. To his mother, he tells her that he is leaving his burden behind for her. I find Edward to be reluctant to make his family his own and he seems to want to get out of his family. Edward's comparison of his father to the hawk and steed are indirect yet serve a pupose of attempting to disect what has occurred between Edward and his family. The repitition of "Edward, Edward" and "Mother, Mother" serve to create a dialogue between Edward and his mother. Each of them seem to be pleading to each other which is created by the repetition of "O" throughout the entirety of the poem. The repeated lines of the poem also serve to create suspense and intensity with emphasis on the repeated lines. The climax of the poem occurs when Edward confesses to killing his father. Before the climax, the first line of each stanze began with a statement about what Edward has perviously stated. The stanzas are full of questions made out of what Edward was doing before he spoke with his mother. After the climax, the first line of each stanze was a question about the situation Edward had at hand. The stanzas after were dealing with what Edward had planned for the future of himself and of his family. Lastly, the mystery of the poem and details of the family's life create power and suspense in the poem.