This is an analysis of the poem If Only I Had Known that begins with:

If only I had known, had realised,
I would not have looked out of the window...

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: XXabXcdX XXaXaXXedb X Xdffdec X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,10,1,7,1,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0101111100 1111110010 101011 10111 011100 1001011 1100110 10101110 0111011100 11111111 11001010 0011 110110011 110010010 1111101 1101 01011101 10101 0111011100 0111011100 111110100010 101010101 1111 10110 01111010 011101001 0111011100
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 161
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 27
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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; or, had, if are repeated.

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

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines realised is repeated).

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

  • summary of If Only I Had Known;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy