An analysis of the poem “I Will Make You Brooches” by Robert Louis Stevenson will include commentary on its subject matter, structure, and literary style.

In this poem, the speaker describes an ideal life for himself and his beloved in the natural world. Together they will delight in the nature, the birdsong and star-shine, the green forest and blue seas. They will keep house in nature, an outdoor kitchen perhaps and a room among the trees. The speaker's beloved will wash in the rainfall and dewfall. They will be surrounded by the music of nature and be ready both to follow the road wherever it takes them and to enjoy the comfort of a warm fire at night.

Structurally, this poem is three stanzas of four lines each. Its rhyme scheme follows the pattern aabbccaaddee. The poem's meter is tricky, with an iambic hexameter base and plenty of variations (the poem starts with a stress, for instance). Recall that iambic refers to a pattern of unstressed-stressed syllables, and hexameter has six stresses per line. Some of the variations likely occur because the poem is really a song that Stevenson set to music.

In terms of literary style, the poem includes some appealing literary devices, including metaphor and alliteration. The “brooches and toys” in the first line, for instance, are really the joys of nature. They are not actual jewelry or playthings but rather birdsongs and shining stars that, the poet implies, would bring greater delight than material objects. Notice, too, line 6, with its alliterative “bright blows the broom.” This is an easy poem to read, but it has a depth of imagery and symbolism that give it a richness beyond its simple appearance.