Oliver's style and her response to nature are dependent on parallelism, diction, and syntax. Her parallelism is represented by the similar words and phrases she uses for both the Great Horned Owl, and the fields of roses. Her diction is through her word usage, and hyperbole. Her syntax is mostly long sentences until she gets to a part that excites her. After that she uses short independent clauses.
The parallelism used is to relate the Great Horned Owl with the field of roses. This shows that beauty and fear affects her in the same way. The Great Horned Owl and roses captivates her and overwhelms her with feelings that are opposite, but yet the same in so many ways. She uses the word "hooked" in line five referring to the owls, and she uses it again in line 44 referring to the field of roses. She uses parallelism to give the reader the affect of fear and excitement.
The diction in this passage reflects Oliver's feelings toward certain things in nature. Terror, excessive, softness, struck, restless are all examples of the words she uses reflecting her feelings toward nature. Some feelings are positive, and some are negative. Oliver uses both positive and negative feelings for the owls and the roses. This demonstrates how both objects give her a controversial feeling in which they both overwhelm her. She does not have a particular in the owls or the roses by themselves, but nature in general seems to be a mystery to her.
The syntax in this piece has a distinct pattern. Oliver uses mainly long and complex sentences throughout the passage. When she comes to the point where she talks about the fields of roses, however, her sentences are still long, but they are filled with independent clauses. This demonstrates her distinct feelings about each detail. This reflects her response to nature because it shows each thought, and the thoughts do not exactly blend together. Each thought is separate.
