When You Wish by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem When You Wish that begins with:

When you wish,
Be careful what you wish for....

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: ABAAACDD ABAAACDD Xee fXdfd ABAAACDDXABAAACDD
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,3,5,17,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111 0101111 111 1110010 111 110100 1110 111101 1111 0101111 111 1110010 111 110100 1110 111101 100101011111 011100010100 11110110 100111110101 001010100 010101 01111101 11111101 1111 0101111 111 1110010 111 110100 1110 111101 111 0101111 111 1110010 111 110100 1110 111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 169
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 24 (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; you, wish, to, be are repeated.

    The author used the same word don't at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word wished 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 When You Wish;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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