This is an analysis of the poem The living flame that begins with:

THEY pass before me, these Eyes full of light,
Eyes made magnetic by some angel wise; ...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: abab cdcd aeaXedd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: Shakespearean sonnet
  • Metre: 1101111101 1101011101 0101010111 11110100111 1110111101 1110011101 1111011111 1111010101 1001110101 1101011101 1111100011 1101110111 10111101001 1111110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 153
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; eyes, and, they are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word they is repeated.

    The author used the same word they at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of The living flame;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Charles Baudelaire