Storm Warnings

“Storm Warnings” is a short poem that not only portrays the externals storm approaching outside, but the internal storm of depression the speaker is affected by. In four stanzas, Rich explains the progression and the protection while dealing with depression. With the storm approaching, the speaker knows what to do to protect herself. The only problem with a storm is that one cannot prevent it from happening. With the use of Rich’s poetic devices such as imagery, sentence structure, tone, and repetition, she is able to portray the deeper meaning within her poem.
Depression is a constant battle for the speaker and even though she is aware of this, there is only so much she can do to protect herself from the pain and storm that is coming. Adrienne

In this short poem, the symbol of time was repeated many times to portray how fragile time and life is. Time is beyond all of our control. The speaker’s word choice throughout this poem also portrayed many hidden messages. The glass was a metaphor explaining how harsh the rain was and how consistent it was, shattering each time. The glass also symbolized the fragileness of the speaker in this poem was and how much like the rain, depression also was consistent and something the speaker struggled with daily. Rich also used connotation with the phrase “shattered glass.” The shattered glass symbolized the sharpness, abruptness, and painful the depression was. The speaker was unable to control when her depression occurred. The shattered glass and depression are also much like a storm, there is no stopping it from happening. Another phrase Rich used was “insistent whine.” In this poem, the insistent whine symbolized something that is long-lasting, hard to get rid of and something that will not go away. Depression is much like an insistent whine. A constant reminder and deep within. It is also something that is very difficult to get rid of and although you can take medicine to help treat it, it never fully goes