The Poem Young by Anne Sexton contains various poetic elements. The most prominent of these elements is the imagery that is scattered throughout the poem; Sexton describes the house she lived in for her childhood and the juxtaposition between her mother and fathers’ respective bedrooms. She brings the reader completely into her world and provides enough detail to make the scene completely real. Sexton is known for her confessional style of poetry normally dealing with death or depression but in Youth she explores the feelings of confusion that a young woman faces as she straddles the line between childhood and maturity. Another poetic device that is used quite often is personification for example ‘and probably a million leaves/sailed on their strange stalks’. There are several other instances of personification like ‘the wise stars bedding over me’. Simile is also used in describing the house ‘and the boards of the house/were smooth and white as wax’ showing that the house was in good condition. Lastly, this poem is written in free verse and reads as one long sentence over 23 lines, much like a monologue or an internalized thought. There is no set rhythm or rhyme scheme apart from the last two lines ‘the heat and the painted light/ elbows, knees, dreams, goodnight’ which differs it from the rest of the poem. Such style is seen as informal, as if the speaker is internalizing her deepest thoughts and doesn’t intend for them to be heard. These devices help me understand the poem better because they really bring me into the speakers’ world; they make every thought, every word more vivid to better imagine how she feels about growing up and wanting to stay frozen in time.

I think that my visual representation of the poem helps to enhance its meaning. The background and formatting are simple as the poem is a simple moment in time. The background is of a young girl lying