This is an analysis of the poem They Would Love To See Me Dead that begins with:

They would love to see me dead, so they say: He belongs to us, he is ours.
For twenty years I have heard their footsteps on the walls of the night....

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: XaXXababcdcbabdbXdbaXX X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 22,1,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 111011111110101101 1100111111101001 110111111111100 010010101001 0111111 1110 111101111 1010110 1111101001110101010 1110101101010 010111101111101011 101100100111 010100111011011 01110100101110 11111111 0111010110010110 11111111 11110001011111 11111 111111101110111111 100111111101 100110000111 0101101011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 601
  • Average number of words per stanza: 118
  • Amount of lines: 23
  • Average number of symbols per line: 51 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; they, of, i, you, like are repeated.

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

  • summary of They Would Love To See Me Dead;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Mahmoud Darwish