"Otherwise"

In “Otherwise,” Jane Kenyon sets a grateful tone as she uses repetition, diction, and syntax to show that life is so great she almost feels as if it’s a dream, but she doesn’t know how much longer it can last. She describes her perfect day, but continues to repeat the phrase “it might have been otherwise” throughout the poem. By continuing to repeat this phrase, she emphasizes that her day was so good that she must be living in some sort of dream because it can’t be real. The repetition really hammers this idea into the reader. Next, her diction helps her appreciation for her great day really shine through. She remarks that she woke up with two “strong” legs and her breakfast was “sweet...ripe...flawless.” How lucky must she feel to do everything she wants to do in one day? Her syntax also shows that she is living in a dream because every line is the same length. For her, every day has been the same, living in a fantasy. I think the syntax also foreshadows that her luck will soon change and there will be a variation in line length. Overall, her literary devices are really appropriate to convey her message.