Sanchez’s poem is influenced by the ballad form with its use of a few quatrains, or four-line stanzas, telling a story that repeats its main premise throughout the poem.

In the first stanza, it becomes apparent that the speaker is addressing someone else. The older speaker wants to laugh at the younger person’s confidence in love; the slightly mocking tone comes from the speaker’s experience. In the final two lines of this stanza, the speaker acknowledges the age difference and how both of them, young and old, cannot “learn of love” (Line 4). This serves as the refrain of the poem. This first stanza also introduces the lowercase style at the start of each line and in the first-person “i,” establishing a casual conversational style.

The second stanza uses visual imagery and figurative language to describe the potency of love. The first description is a direct comparison, or metaphor, between “rain exploding” (Line 5) and love, bringing forth the mental image of rain as fireworks. The second description involves the

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now