Grown-Up by Edna St.

Vincent Millay
Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?
This poem, I find has many parallels to Twisted because of the theme: growing up can be
painful, disappointing and fast. Tyler realizes this after seeing the reality and consequences
acting immaturely presents. So in a way, this poem is the story of Tylers life. The final line of the
poem emphasizes how fast growing up is. This links to Tyler, only a senior in high school, as he
experiences the consequences of his foul deed. Lines one and two give the feeling of young,
oblivious hope being lost in the terrible void of sadness. Tyler was young and quiet before the
deed and after he saw the lost innocence and grace the world seemed to have before. Along
with the deep meaning of the poem there are many structural features. The rhyme scheme is
AABB, lines one and two being rhymed with the words prayers and stairs. Lines three and four
rhymed with the words plate and eight. In line three, domestic as a plate, is a simile comparing
the narrator to a plate: something very domestic, using the word as.
Alone by Edgar Allan Poe
From childhoods hour I have not been
As others were-I have not seen
As others saw- I could not bring
My passions from a common springFrom the same source I have not taken
My sorrow- I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same toneAnd all I lovd- I lovd aloneThen-in my childhood-in the dawn
Of a most stormy life-was drawn
From evry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me stillFrom the torrent, or the fountainFrom the red cliff of the mountainFrom the sun that round me rolld
In its autumn tint of goldFrom the lightning in the sky
As it passd me flying byFrom the thunder, and the stormAnd the cloud that took the form
Of a demon in my viewAlone by Edgar Allan Poe has many similarities with Tyler Millers life in the novel. One of the
most important is the overall depressed and confused theme of this poem. The narrator of the
poem expressed all of the potential lost- really to do anything. Lots of the refrains in the poem

are negative potential. The negative potential in the poem has a major parallel with Tyler
because it connects with the metaphor that Tylers life is a huge, twisted knot that he cant
untangle. The title of the poem also relates because Tyler feels alone in his huge struggle: most
people are opposed of him, his parents dont seem to be on his side. To Tyler, everyone seems
like an enemy.
The poems structure consists of the rhyme scheme ABCCDDEEAABBCCDDEEAAB. All of the
lines are connected by twos with a consistent rhyme and there are lots of refrains containing
the word from and as and could not.