The Victims

“The Victims” is written in a single stanza in free verse with no set meter or rhyme scheme. Olds includes small moments throughout the poem of internal rhyme that carry the rhythm. For example, in Lines 5-7, the words “inside” (Line 5) and “last time” (Line 7) have an internal sonic rhyme. Olds frequently uses repetition throughout the poem as a sonic device to move the lines rhythmically forward. This occurs in Lines 1-2 when the speaker repeats “She took it and / took it” (Lines 1-2) (and again in Line 15 when the speaker says, “She had taught us to take it, to hate you and take it), and in Line 5 when the speaker repeats the word “grinned” twice. Many other examples of repetition occur throughout the poem, acting as a rhythmic force. Most notably, from Lines 8-11, the words “taken away” are repeated several times and accompanied by a list of objects, people, and things the father loses following the divorce. Lastly, the phrase “in silence” (Line 2, Line 24) is initially stated at the start of the poem and echoed again in the third to last line.