The piece of poetry I am analysing is an Italian Sonnet called Madonna Mia, by Oscar Wilde. This poem does not deviate from the Italian Sonnet formula; a formula consisting of a stichic syllabic structure, and stressing according to a pentameter - that is, each verse line is 10 syllables, five of which are stressed. Furthermore, this poem, being an Italian Sonnet, is divided into two sections: "an eight-line `octave' of two quatrains, rhymed [abbaacca], followed by a six-line `sestet' usually rhymed [cdeced]" (Baldick, p239).

This poem, however, is not only in accord with the rules of Italian Sonnets; it is also in accord with the grammatical rules of English. For example, all of the caesuras coincide with punctuation in the poem. Furthermore, there is no use of inversion, nor is there much use (or abuse) of poetic license: the poem is, simply, a rhyming, metaphorical story. Techniques, such...