Contents: Introduction 2

2.2. Annus Mirabilis Literary Elements

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is narrated by a subjective third-person narrator.
Form and Meter
The poem is written in a style knows as the heroic couplet.
Metaphors and Similes
In the beginning of the poem, the narrator mentions how the war between England and the Dutch was the result of the Dutch wanting to raise a blockade put in place by the British. Through that blockade, the trade between the Dutch and other countries was stopped and thus the country suffered as a result. To make the reader understand just how dire the situation was, the trade related activities were compared with the blood that flows through someone. Through that blockade, the flow was stopped and thus the country involved had to do everything they could to ensure the trading took place once more to ensure their survival.
Alliteration and Assonance-We find alliteration in the line ‘’ Where wealth, like fruit on precipices, grew,’’.
Irony-The irony of the poem appears at the end when the narrator claims that the Great Fire of London was a positive aspect even though many lives were destroyed as a result of the fire.
Genre-Narrative poem
Setting-The poem takes place in London in the year 1666.
Tone-Despite the subjects approached in the poem, the tone used is a positive one.
Protagonist and Antagonist-The protagonists are in the poem the English and the antagonists are the Dutch.
Major Conflict-The major conflict in the poem appears to be between the people’s tendency to think their lives will never get worse and the belief that everything that happens is for the better and happens for a reason.
Climax-The poem reaches its climax when the narrator mentions the Great Fire of London.
Foreshadowing-In the lines when the narrator talks about different European countries one another, he foreshadows the future wars England will wage both with Spain and with France.
Understatement-In the poem, the narrator writes how some countries would help England in its war against other nations. While many claimed that those countries were helping England because they cared, the narrator points out how this is an understatement because those countries would eventually end up attacking England as well.
Allusions-In the beginning of the poem, the narrator mentions how Holland stopped the blood flow of England. This is an allusion to suggest that Holland stopped the trading going to England thus depriving the land of necessary things.