This is an analysis of the poem The Battle Of The Headlines that begins with:

Hold back, sub-editor! You march and plan
So much more swiftly than the soldiers can....

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: aabbccXbXXddcceeffggbbccX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 25,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1111001111 1111010101 1101110111 1111010101 10011011110 11110111110 1101000101 1101001111 1001010101 1111110101 0001010101 11010000101 1101110101 1111010101 0101110101 11100000101 1111001101 1101000101 1111000101 1110010101 0111001101 1101110101 1111111101 1101000101 101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1019
  • Average number of words per stanza: 191
  • Amount of lines: 25
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; or is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words i, or are repeated.

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

  • summary of The Battle Of The Headlines;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by A. P. Herbert