Analysing the Poem I Miss You

The poem 'I Miss You' makes very good use of alliterative verse. It has the steady rhythem of ta-TUM TUM-ta ta-TUM in the first four lines. It then switches to a similar rhythm in the last four lines: TUM-ta-TUM-ta-TUM-ta. The regular stressing of the words forms a very even and pleasing rhythm. This rhythm, I think, is a commonly used rhythm for much rhythmically formed, short, simple poetry. This same rhythm can be found in the jump rope rhyme, 'Cinderella,' although the rhythms are switched as to which comes first. The first and third lines follow an irregular meteric pattern. They start out will an iambic set, to a trochaic set, back to a iambic set again. The second and fourth lines follow a straight trochaic pattern. Then, the last four lines follow just the iambic pattern, making the poem sound finished. The poem then has lines that are all about the same length to keep with the rhythms in them. The rhythm sounds almost musical. If composed to a song, the poem could follow 3/4 or 4/4 time. I find myself tapping two extra beats at the end of each line. There are virtually the same amount of syllables in each of the lines. Each of the lines ranges from six to eight syllables in length. This regular pattern makes the poem easier to follow. Every second line rhymes, forming a nice cadence for me, the reader. The odd numbered lines, however, do not rhyme, but they have a common meter and syllable count which keeps the poem feeling connected. Sometimes, I read poetry that has no common cadence, meter, or rhyme. It leaves me feeling distanced from what the author was trying to say. I feel lost and at a disconnect. The first and third lines of the verse start off sounding cheerful, with the first and third lines ending in up-beats. The second and fourth lines end on a down-beat, adding a mournful sound. The poem ends in a peppy way with every second syllable being an up-beat.