Write a critical appreciation of "Anger Lay by Me" by Elizabeth Daryush.

The metrical rhythm in "Anger
Lay By Me" is for the most part iambic (^ /) tetrameter (four feet), but Daryush does
begins the first and second stanzas with an interesting variation to the meter. In
stanza one, the first two feet are trochaic (/ ^),  "An'
ger^ / lay'  by^ / me^ all' / night^ long'." In stanza two, one reading would scan it,
"He^ stood' / by^ me' / all^ through' / the^ day'," in straight iambic
tetrameter.

Of course scansion is a subject that engenders
debate, but this analysis would be fairly well supported by (1) the standard syllabic
accentuation of an' -ger; (2) the sentence pattern in English that
puts sentence stress on the Verb, "lay," before stressing a preposition, "by"; (3) the
emphatic quality of the adjective "all" in "all through"; (4) a tendency among poets to
vary opening feet.

However, an alternate reading might scan
the first three feet of the first line in stanza two as
trochaic, "He' stood^ / by' me^ / all' through^ /." This scansion could be well
supported by the argument that it builds structural equilibrium when the relationship
preposition "by" is stressed to balance an emphatic adjective "all."  This would render
stress on the Subject "He" more logical than stress on the Verb "stood." Daryush employs
an alternating abab cdcd efef rhyme scheme in three
quatrains.

The
theme might be considered a bit ambiguous because the
language of line three, "He^ told' / me^ of' / my^ burn' / -ing" wrong'," doesn't make
it absolutely clear whether "my wrong" was done to the
poetic speaker or by her. It is logical to think it is a
wrong done by her to somebody because a seemingly vengeful
Anger strikes the book and pen from her hand and dares her to "sing" (i.e., write
poetry) if she has the heart to. Yet it is equally logical to think it is a wrong
done to her because the last stanza reveals that she can't
separate herself from Anger and that Anger will be her undoing, or "doom." I would
venture to analyse it as she being angry at a wrong done to
her that she can't forgive. Therefore Anger has overshadowed her inspiration and will
thus be her "doom."