This is an analysis of the poem Responsibility that begins with:

Why are our ideals hid from hostile eyes
As boys in school hide toys from master's view?... 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: abbaabba Xcccdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: sonnet with iambic pentameter or irregular meter
  • Metre: 1110110011 1101110101 1001110101 1111011100 1101110111 00111001011 0101000111 0101110101 11011100101 0101110101 11001110111 0101000101 1111110101 1101000011
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 313
  • Average number of words per stanza: 57
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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; as, 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 Responsibility;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ada Cambridge