This is an analysis of the poem My Friend, My Brother that begins with:

NOT as it seems, friend, brother, is my life,
For I have coveted my neighbour's wife,...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: aaXX bcbc dddd effe cbbc X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,1,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101110011 1111001101 0101110101 1111001111 0111111101 0101010011 1111101101 11001111101 11110100101 11001110101 1101011101 1101001100 10010111110 1111011011 1101000101 01110111110 1101100111 1101110101 1111011111 1111010111 01011010
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 150
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; my is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word and is repeated.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of My Friend, My Brother;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Alfred Mortier