Pattern

"Do you live in North London? Is it you?" -"Lonely Hearts" by Wendy Cope

     Oh joy, incessant questions and repeated lines of poetry. Annoyance is not an appropriate word for poems such as "Lonely Hearts" because I see much more intellect in repetition than hammering in an idea. That is what makes pattern challenging. The first thing I notice is that a pattern in a poem can carry a reader over a series of changes in tone or otherwise. "Edward" repeats the same line twice each stanza, but after the first few stanzas the line after the repitition holds much more anticipation than first. However, the first is interesting to the reader in that it introduces a new consquence of an action. Pattern can also be a useful tool for emotional expression by the author. Unless an author explicitly states his speaker's own facial expressions or mannerisms, the reader must interpret a poem by its implications and diction, among other things. Repitition gives a much more direct route to the speaker or author's thoughts. If the author is willing to write the line or phrase several times, it must represent a strong emotion or a progression of emotions the writer is feeling. "Lonely Hearts" uses like the "North London" line, which progressively becomes more hopeless each stanza. By the end of the poem, the question is not merely wanting a response, it is begging for one.