This is an analysis of the poem The True Lover that begins with:

The lad came to the door at night,
When lovers crown their vows, ... 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 cdcd aeaX dede aXaX fgfX cgcX hahXXabaB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01100111 110111 11011101 011001 101111011 111111 11101101 010101 101010111 111101 11100111 11011000 11111111 010011 11010101 111001 101111111 110111 11011101 1111110 101110111 111101 11111101 0101100 101100111 101111 10010111 11110100 101011111 110111 01010101 1101010 10010111 110101 01100101 110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 134
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; i, it, lad are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Alfred Edward Housman