Poetry Critique

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/walter_de_la_mare/poems/1956.html

Tom's Little Dog by Walter de la Mare

Tom told his dog called Tim to beg,
And up at once he sat, His two clear amber eyes fixed fast,
His haunches on his mat. Tom poised a lump of sugar on
His nose; then, "Trust!" says he;
Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim;
Never a hair stirred he.

"Paid for!" says Tom; and in a trice
Up jerked that moist black nose;
A snap of teeth, a crunch, a munch,
And down the sugar goes!

2. I chose this poem because I have two small Westies and I can relate to what he is talking about. I don't really feed them straight sugar and they can’t catch food off of their noses but everything else is about the same.

3. The title is very simple and is just explaining the main character: Tom’s Little Dog.

4. In the fifth line of the first stanza there is a simile referring to how the little dog Tim is sitting very straight and stiff: “Stiff as a guardsman sat his Tim”. I think this simile makes you visualize a small dog that is so stiff and all he cares about is getting that food. There is also consonance when he says “sat” in one line and then “mat” in the next line. I think the author wants the audience to focus on these words because it’s describing the action and where the dog is.

5. The tone of this poem is happy and simple. Throughout the poem Walter just talks about a dog and how he’s going to get food and then at the end he gets the food, so there is a happy ending.