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11. APOSTROPHE In line 11, the speaker uses an apostrophe to prepare for the poem's final exclamation. The apostrophe—"oh"—is notable for its softness. Often apostrophes include capital letters and an exclamation mark ("Oh!"), but in this case, the speaker's appeal to some outside listener is more muted. Rather than diminish its power, however, this modesty complicates the "oh." One interpretation reads it like and "Oh!" The word is a shout of pure emotion, a release of pent-up energy. A more careful interpretation, however, takes into account the moment's quietness. Here, the "oh" is more of a hesitation. The speaker is treading carefully. At the end of a poem about a young woman who didn't get the attention she deserved, the speaker wants to do her memory justice. In that sense, the "oh" is a thoughtful pause in which the speaker considers how to proceed. "Oh," the speaker seems to be saying, "I'm not sure how exactly to put it." Or: "Let me pause for a second—I want to get this right." Whatever the case, the final effect of the muted apostrophe is to contrast with and therefore emphasize the final line. The apostrophe, in combination with line 11's caesura cluster, slows the pace of the poem, such that the unhindered final line explodes to its exclamatory point. That, the poem suggests, is one of Lucy's effects: to instantly transport her lovers (the few that existed) from quiet hesitation to the resounding certainty that she changed their lives. Where Apostrophe appears in the poem: • Line 11: “oh”