Poetic Elements Analysis Outline PEAO

Title: Water Under the Bridge

Literal: Its water under a bridge
Symbolic:Events in her life that aren't very significant but add meaning to the relationship. She
cant easily forget an event and pass it off like water under a bridge.

Author: Adele Adkins

Tone: The tone of the song is very hopeful

Mood/Atmosphere: Sad and a feeling of empathy

Speaker: The speaker of the song is the author talking about her love life.

Audience: The intended audience is for people in a relationship

Rhyme Scheme: It's an aaaa,bbbb rhyme scheme

Rhythm: It's iambic rhythm

Meter: No set meter

Structure: Ballad quadrains

Enjambment or end stops: There are no enjambment throughout the song.

Diction and syntax: Many of the stanzas repeat

 Arrangement of verse and stanza: There are eight stanzas

Paraphrase:
Stanza 1: If someone is not for them, then how could that person bring them down to
their knees. If you are not for that person, how could have gone through all the things
that you have gone through.
Stanza 2 and 6: Its cold out in the wilderness, hold me, but not if youre so reckless
Stanza 3,5, and 7: You shouldn't pretend that you don't want me and if you want to let
me go, you should do it gently. Our love isn't water under the bridge.
Stanza 4: You are hiding from me and you shouldn't live on the run. The only thing she
wants is his love.
Stanza 8: Say that our love is not like water under the bridge

Analysis:
Stanza 1:She is testing their relationship and proving to her lover that is is very serious.
Stanza 2 and 6: She wants to be safe and feel defended by the one that she loves.
However, if her lover is on and off about their relationship, there is no reason continuing
the relationship. In that case, she wont feel safe in his arms.
Stanza 3,5, and 7: It means that is they run into a big conflict, he shouldnt do it in a way
that distresses her. When she says dont pretend that you dont want me she means
that when he is questioning their relationship, she is trying to draw him in back into the
relationship. water under the bridge symbolizes that there is a new, enthusiastic love
but the past events cant just be moved to the side. His rudeness is not something she
can easily forgive.
Stanza 4: Her lover is distant , but not exactly leaving her. Her lover cant just be happy
with what they have. She is in the long run only if her lover is too.
Stanza 8:She is seeking validation that her love means the same as it does to him.

Sound Devices:
(Internal rhyme, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, alliteration)
Internal rhyme: Bring and knees; holding and do; honey and you;
Assonance:Oh honey if Im not the one for you
Alliteration: Let me down, let me down gently; What are you waiting for

Similes, Metaphors, Allusions & Symbols: (quote or paraphrase and explain)

Imagery: (quote or paraphrase image and state sense[s] referred to) Theme:
(universal lesson, point, or moral)
Imagery: Its so cold out here in your wilderness
 Imagery: You've got to stop holding me the way that you do
Metaphor: Our love ain't water under a bridge
Theme: The theme of the song is to either try hard or quit an unsteady relationship