This is an analysis of the poem The Messiah : A Sacred Eclogue that begins with:

Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song,
To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.... 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: aabbcd eebbffcdgghhgg eeaaiibbbbjXbbjjggjjckkccggcciibbllbbXcggeeggbbccXbeeggggmmnnjjXbbeebbggbbkkjjeebbeejjbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,14,88,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1101000101 01001100101 0101010101 0101010101 0111111101 1110101010 1001010110 010101010101 0101010101 11010010101 0010010100111 1101010101 11001010101 10110101010 0111010111 0101010101 1111110111 0101010101 11001010101 11110001001 11001100101 10101010101 110100100101 01001001001 1101000101 1101010101 1101010101 11010010101 1011010101 0101010101 0101010101 01010010100 1101100101 1111011101 0101110101 0111110111 0101110101 1111111101 10111101001 1101011101 11001010111 0111010101 1101010101 1111001111 010011111001 0100011101 11110100101 1001010101 1101010101 01010100101 11100011101 0101110001 1001100101 11110100101 0101000101 1111001101 11010010101 11010101010 0101010111 11010001011 1011000111 1100110101 11010111010 1101101111 1011111101 0101010001 11001110101 1101010101 11010100001 11010101100 0111010101 1101010101 0101110101 0101010101 11001000101 0101110101 1101010101 0111011111 1101010101 0101000111 0101001101 1011000101 101101110001 11010100101 0111011111 1011110101 1101110111 0101110101 0101010101 1101011101 1011101101 1111010101 1101001001 1110010101 1101010101 11010010101 1101100101 1101011101 11010010101 11010101001 1101011001 10011010111 0111010101 0111010101 1101110101 1101010101 111101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1191
  • Average number of words per stanza: 207
  • Amount of lines: 107
  • 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:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; from, and, see, god, ye, his, thy are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words the, see, nor are repeated.

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

  • summary of The Messiah : A Sacred Eclogue;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Alexander Pope