Lot's Wife

“Lot’s Wife” stands apart from the traditional definition of Hecht as a Formalist. The poem is free verse, meaning it has no set meter or form, and it follows natural speech patterns. The speaker could be an omniscient Lot’s wife recalling her childhood memories, or they could be a random speaker who likens childhood memories and the act of recollection to Lot’s wife’s act of looking back. Whatever the case, the speaker reflects on recollection with natural speech. The only clues that point to Hecht’s usual Formalism are his inclusion of literary and religious references that carry weighty thematic concerns: Lot’s wife and Proust.

There are sonnets known as stretched sonnets, which can contain 16 lines, and a quatern is a 16-line poem comprised of four quatrains. Though one might argue that “Lot’s Wife” loosely fits one of these forms, it would be a very, very loose association.

“Lot’s Wife” contains many instances of alliteration. Alliteration is when closely connected words share the same beginning letter or sound. Hecht employs alliteration through