Republic of the Philippines

Surigao del Sur State University

Rosario, Tandag City, Surigao del Sur 8300
Telefax No. 086-214-4221
Website: www.sdssu.edu.ph

Marissa U. Mozo BSED-ENGLISH III

Title: A Stylistic Analysis of “I Got Flowers Today” by Paulette Kelly

I. Introduction (Poem and Poet)

The poem “I Got Flowers Today” is a four-stanza freestyle type of poem written
by Paulette Kelly in the year in the year 1992. The author uses first person point of view
for she uses I, my, and me. The criticism that I’m going to use is psychoanalytic criticism
because the author talks about her experiences that caused her anxiety, emotional and
physical abuse, assuming that everything will be fine after those traumatic events which
are probably happened to her in real life of the author. The Author has insufficient
information about her poem and the poem doesn’t have biographical references to
support the evidences. In the poem, the narrator is abused by her husband who
attempts to make up for his violence by giving her flowers the next day. These flowers
keep the narrator silent until she is silenced forever. First, he starts off calling her cruel
things that really hurt her feelings, then apologizing after the fact it was already said. At
his stage its emotional abuse. Then the abuse continues and more aggressively. He
starts to physically abuse her, and threatened her life. She then starts to cover up
herself to hide what was being done to her behind closed doors. Then her man beat her
even more and she wasn’t able to hide the visible marking on her body, so she calls in
sick at her employment. Then It gets worst within their relationship, she probably
mentions that she is tired of all the drama and abuse and wants to leave, but yet
knowing that her man was the financial supporter, she didn’t leave. So, she forgives him
as he say sorry again, probably promising her that “it will never happen again”. Well
finally he kills her and she receives flowers for the last time.
II. Analysis
A. Phonological Features
The poem “I Got Flowers Today” is a four-stanza freestyle type of poem

sorry, say, said

that, things
Alliteration was, worse
threw, then

woke, morning, sore

unreal, nightmare, wake
Assonance got, flowers, today
must, but

birthday, any, day

first, argument, last, night
Consonance would, gathered, and
Shelter, their

B. Graphological Features
There are five stanzas with six lines each. Several punctuations are used in them:
a. Exclamation Points (!)
Line 1: I got flowers today! (1)
Line 7: I got flowers today! (2)
Line 13: I got flowers today! (3)
Line 20: I got flowers today! (4)
Line 24: I’m afraid of him, but I’m too scared and dependent to leave him! (5)
b. Semi colons (;)
Line 3: We had our first argument last night ;(1)
Line 4: And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt ;(2)
Line 5: I know that he is sorry and didn’t mean to say the things he said ;(3)
Line 8: It wasn’t our anniversary or any other special day;(4)
Line 9: Last night he threw into a wall and then started choking me;(5)
Line 10: It seemed unreal, a nightmare, but you woke up from nightmares;(6)
Line 11: And I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over––but I know he is sorry;
(7)
Line 14: And it wasn’t Valentine’s Day or any other special day;(8)
Line 15: Last night he beat me and threatened to kill me;(9)
Line 16: Make-up and long sleeves didn’t hide the cuts and bruises this time;(10)
Line 18: Want anyone to know––but I know he is sorry;(11)
Line 21: And it wasn’t Mother’s Day or any other special day;(12)
Line 22: Last night he beat me again, and it worse than all of the other times;(13)
Line 27: Today was a special day––it was the day of my funeral;(14)
Line 28: Last night he killed me;(15)
Line 29: If only I would have gathered the courage and strength to leave him;(16)
Line 30: I could have received help from the Woman’s Shelter, but I didn’t ask for their
help;(17)
c. Periods (.)
Line 6: Because he sent me flowers today.(1)
Line 12: Because he sent me flowers today.(2)
Line 25: Because he sent me flowers today.(3)
Line 31: So I forgot flowers today––for the last time.(4)
d. Commas (,)
Line 10: It seemed unreal, a nightmare, (2) but you woke up from nightmares;
Line 22: Last night he beat me again, (3) and it worse than all of the other times ;
Line 23: If I leave him, (4) what will I do? How will I take care of the kids? What about
money?
Line 30: I could have received help from the Woman’s Shelter, (5) but I didn’t ask for
their help;
e. Hyphens (-)
Line 16: Make-up (1) and long sleeves didn’t hide the cuts and bruises this time;
f. Dashes (––)
Line 11: And I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over ––(1) but I know he is
sorry;
Line 18: Want anyone to know––(2) but I know he is sorry;
Line 27: Today was a special day––(3) it was the day of my funeral;
Line 31: So I forgot flowers today––(4) for the last time.
g. Ellipsis Marks (….)
Kelly uses ellipses to state moment of deep breathing. It refers to death as it is known
as sore and sudden. The ellipsis in the poem shown:
Line 26: I got flowers today….(1)
h. Question marks(?)
Line 23: If I leave him, what will I do?(1) How will I take care of the kids? (2)What about
money? (3)

C. Syntactic Features

NOUN/PRONOUN VERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB PREPOSITIONS

I got sorry today from

Flowers said unreal last about
Day know sore really to
Birthday sent bruise lot for
Argument threw worse any
We woke afraid all
He choking dependent over
Our beat too
Things kill only
Anniversary go
Me work
You leave
Morning care
Night gathered
Nightmare received
Wall ask
Him threatened
Kids
Money
Funeral
Time
Their
D. Lexi-Semantic Features

1. Simile
Line 10: It seemed unreal, a nightmare,
Explanation: The wife’s experience was compared to a terrifying dream where she felt
helpless

2. Irony
Lines 6,12,19,25, 31: Because he sent me flowers today.
Explanation: There was no special or happy event but the wife gets flowers. Instead she
receives it because something horrifying at home is happening.

3. Tone
Cheerfulness is shown in
Lines 1, 7, 13, 20: I got flowers today!
The author expresses different emotions in the following lines:
Hurt
Line 4: And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt;
Line 9: Last night he threw into a wall and then started choking me;
Afraid
Line 15: Last night he beat me and threatened to kill me;
Line 22: Last night he beat me again, and it worse than all of the other times
Anxious
Line 23: If I leave him, what will I do? How will I take care of the kids? What about
money?
Line 24: I’m afraid of him, but I’m too scared and dependent to leave him!
Regret
Line 25: If only I would have gathered the courage and strength to leave him;
Line 26: I could have received help from the Woman’s Shelter, but I didn’t ask for their
help.
4. Symbolism
Flowers
It is used in the poem as a symbol for apology and tolerance of the wife’s
suffering of her husband’s violence.
Funeral
A symbol of freedom of the battered wife in the sufferings she had from her
husband’s violence.

5. Imagery
The images that we can relate in the poem are a kind of dramatic situation. It has
tension that defines the emotional tone but then conflict is not implied .There are 4
unpleasant images in the poem appeal and they are the visual, auditory, and tactile
senses.
Image 1
1st fight: The couple was fighting and the husband said many cruel words to the wife.
The next day, the husband sent her some flowers.
Image 2
Worsening fight: The husband threw the wife to wall and choked her. The woman woke
up in the morning with a body full of bruises but she received flowers from her husband.
Image 3
Uncontrollable temper:
The husband continues to furiously batter his wife. The wife starts to think of leaving but
she weights her decision by the consequences. In the morning, she receives flowers
again.
Image 4
Final image Eternal rest:
The husband excessively batters the wife to death.

6. Asyndeton
 Paulette Kelly ended her poem leaving a line through Asyndeton device. These
are the use of conjunctions (such as “and, “or”, “so” and “for”) in a group of words or
phrases so that the meaning of the phrase or sentence is emphasized. The expression
is shown in the Line 31 saying. So I got flowers today–– for the last time.
7. Soliloquy
In some part of lines, the author has spoken a monologue which addressed to
oneself by delivering thoughts known to the audience. The expression is shown in the
following lines:
Line 23: If I leave him, what will I do? How will I take care of the kids? What about
money?
Line 24: I’m afraid of him, but I’m too scared and dependent to leave him!

8. Linking Words
The poem only has three linking words “And”,” Because”, and “So” as shown
below:
Lines 6: Because he sent me flowers today.
Lines 4: And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt;
Line 11: And I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over ––but I know he is sorry;
Line 14: And it wasn’t Valentine’s Day or any other special day;
Line 21: And it wasn’t Mother’s Day or any other special day;
Line 31: So I forgot flowers today–– for the last time.

9. Natural Words
The poem includes natural worlds such as:
Flowers, night, morning

III. Conclusion
Fighting and misunderstanding between couples is a normal part of a relationship
but when it becomes unacceptable and even unforgivable to physically hurt someone;
Nothing, not even a marriage contract, gives you the license to ABUSE someone. As
human, we have no right to condemn each one of us. We are made by God to love one
another and not hurting with each other. Always remember that we are all living this
world with priceless of worth.
IV. Summary
“I Got Flowers Today” This poem is a very interesting poem, written by Paulette
Kelly in 1992. The poem is obviously about a woman getting abused from the beginning
stage of abuse. First, he starts off calling her cruel things that really hurt her feelings,
then apologizing after the fact it was already said. At this stage its emotional abuse.
Then the abuse continues and more aggressive. He starts to physically abuse her, and
threatened her life. She then starts to cover up herself to hide what was being done to
her behind closed doors. Then her man beat her even more and she wasn’t able to hide
the visible marking on her body, so she calls in sick at her employment. Then it gets
worst within their relationship, she probably mentions that she is tired of all the drama
and abuse and wants to leave, but yet knowing that her man was the financial
supporter, she didn’t leave. So, she forgives him as he says sorry again, probably
promising her that “it will never happen again”. Well finally, he kills her and she receives
flowers for the last time.

V. Personal Reflection
Paulette Kelly wrote this poem “I Got Flowers Today” to inform the people that
domestic violence is a problem. The poem has a theme of Good and Evil that is showed
in the action of the couples. The poem is showing husband or male partner is being
violent towards their partner. The woman is getting beaten by her partner. In the poem,
she used phrases such as “I know he must be sorry because he sent me flowers today”
or “I got flowers today; It wasn't my birthday or any other special day.” The first quote
says how blindly accepts the flowers even she was getting beaten every day, every
other day the beating got even worse but she doesn’t have the courage to leave him.
The second quote states shows that the flower was the present of the man for the
woman to give lenience to the beatings he’s done to her. The poem has a dark story,
while I read the rest of the poem. “I got flowers today” every line has its story that you
must not tolerate any beating. A message to all of us especially for women, that we
should take action when we are beaten because we can die from it, we should seek
help from other people. I have a sister and I don’t want her to experience that.
Personally, I can’t do that if I love a person. I find this poem very sad to read and I felt
anger towards the man, the part when she says “I got flowers today” as I read the
poem, it hit me that she got a flower today so she got beaten again it’s sad to know that.
I did not hate the poem because it portrayed a man like that. I learned that there are
people who don’t have the courage to call for help. As a married woman, I didn’t
experience this kind of violence and I’m hoping that it will never and ever be happen. To
all husband or male partners out there, you should avoid doing harmful violence to your
special someone because they are human too and we are equal in the eyes of our God.
And lastly, I always remember that they don’t know what you’ve been to and you don’t
know what they’ve been to.