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9. APOSTROPHE The exclamation that begins line 13—“Dear God!”—is an example of apostrophe. The direct appeal to a higher power mostly functions to emphasize the poem’s formal “turn,” through which the speaker arrives at a new understanding of the subject matter. The appeal to God affects the poem in a few different ways. First, it abruptly ends the contented, almost blissful description of the smoothly gliding river, signaling the shift in perspective. The apostrophe’s monosyllabic and exclamatory urgency further suggests that this shift is a big one. Is the speaker terrified? Awestruck? Too impressed for words? In this way, the apostrophe prepares the reader for the grotesque final image of the heart, far from the “bright and glittering” city. The apostrophe isn’t just a throwaway exclamation. The speaker has a good reason for appealing to what we can assume is the highest power the speaker believes in. The speaker has no choice. The final view of the city is just that intense. Finally, by bringing God into the picture, the speaker adds the heavenly realm into a poem that represents a crosssection of other realms: the earthly realm, the solar system; the urban and the natural. It’s a final flourish that deepens the sonnet just as space is running out. Where Apostrophe appears in the poem: • Line 13: “Dear God!”