This is an analysis of the poem Imagining Defeat that begins with:

She woke me up at dawn,
her suitcase like a little brown dog at her heels....

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: Xa Xa b Xc Xc bc Xc c XX X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,2,1,2,2,2,2,1,2,1,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111111 011101011101 111111010 101100010111 0110001 1111011001 0111101110010 1110011110 11101101010 1111111011101 0010101010 1101011111111 110101010101010 011010001110 1001100111 11001010 1111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 69
  • Average number of words per stanza: 15
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; at, i are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word matter at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Imagining Defeat;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by David Berman