A Prayer for My Daughter its "metremes", or rhymical motifs, rather than common metrical devices. The poem also may be read to consist of straightforward iambic verse that relies on common metrical devices such as elision, acephalous lines, promotion, and metrical inversion. Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 of each stanza are iambic pentameter; lines 4, 6, and 7 are iambic tetrameter. For instance, using traditional principles of scansion, stanza two may be scanned as shown below, where syllables in all caps represent metrical beats, lower-case syllables represent metrical off-beats, the vertical bar represents the termination of a metrical foot, and apostrophes represent elisions.
F. De Samara to A. G. A. a theme, is evident also from the use of vivid imagery, as well as the heavy hearted tone conveyed through Emily's use of caesura and interjection. The poem uses thirteen stanzas, constructed using an ‘aabb’ rhyming structure. This is a conventional style of writing poetry, upon which Emily’s mark can be seen in the way certain lines lack the required rhyme. The effect of this technique is often to draw emphasis to the content of the line, and add impact to that stanza. F. De Samara to A. G. A. F. De Samara to A. G. A. is a poem