This is an analysis of the poem The Heart Taken that begins with:

The castle of the human heart
Strong in its native sin;... full text

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 cbcb XdXd cdcd eXeX cbcb fafa fgfg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01000101 100101 010101001 111101 11010101 110101 01010101 111101 11011111 0101001 11101100 110101 11010101 110101 01010101 110001 11010111 0001010 01010101 001001 01110111 110101 01011101 111101 01010011 111101 01011101 110101 01011101 010101 10011101 011001
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 121
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by John Newton