Answers By Elizabeth Jennings - Analysis

Why did you travel?
Because the house was cold.

Why did you travel?
Because it is what I have always done between sunset and sunrise.

What did you wear?
I wore a blue suit, a white shirt, yellow tie, and yellow socks.

What did you wear?
I wore nothing.
 A scarf of pain kept me warm.

Who did you sleep with?
I slept with a different woman each night.

Who did you sleep with?
I slept alone.
 I have always slept alone.

Why did you lie to me?
I always thought I told the truth.

Why did you lie to me?
Because the truth lies like nothing else and I love the truth.

Why are you going?
Because nothing means much to me anymore.

Why are you going?
I don't know.
 I have never known.

How long shall I wait for you?
Do not wait for me.
 I am tired and I want to lie down.

Are you tired and do you want to lie down?
Yes, I am tired and I want to lie down.

Anaphora              Repeated Sentences  

This poem created by Elizabeth Jennings uses anaphora and repetition of sentences to create the feeling of someone having an internal conflict with himself by repeatedly asking himself for the real answer to his own questions. 

Until the last two stanzas, every two stanzas from the top had the same question, but a different answer. I believe that the use of the repeating question resulting in a different answer means that the first answer is what he tells himself and those around him, but the second answer is how he really feels about himself.  In the first two stanzas, he answers at first that he left because "the house was cold", but later admits that he left because that is what he has always done everyday. In another part of the poem, he tells himself that he sleeps "with a different woman every night", but later admits that he has always been alone, even though he had been with all these different types of women. In the last two stanzas, the only questions which aren't repeated, he comes to terms with himself and is tired of lying to himself and tells the inner voice "I am tired and I want to lie down". 

The overall tone of this poem is somber, because it emanates loneliness. The man only leaves the house because that is what he has done everyday, not because he has a real reason to, and he always feels alone even though he sleeps with a different women every night. He is empty with no real purpose to work towards, and constantly lies to himself that everything is alright until he realizes that he's tired of lying to himself at the end. 

The repetition of sentences creates a sort of dialogue within the poem where the man is second guessing himself. The anaphora builds upon that dialogue, with the man responding to his own questions with differing answers. The shorter sentences make the poem seem more like the thought process of the man, and emphasize his inner conflict with himself.