A Song by Joseph Brodsky: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem A Song that begins with:

I wish you were here, dear,
I wish you were here. ...

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: AAXaXbXb AAaaaaaa AAXacccc AaXadddd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111011 11101 11111010 1111 0100101 0110111 101001 010101 111011 11101 1110011 11101 110111 11011 11101 011001 111011 11101 111110100 1101 1011010 11110010 11001010 010110 111011 00101 111101 1001 01001010 1111110 1010010 0010110
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 216
  • Average number of words per stanza: 42
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 26 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i, wish, you, could, be are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words i, the, when are repeated.

    The author used the same word i at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of A Song;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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