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

Swallow, my sister, O sister swallow,
How can thine heart be full of the spring?... 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: abcabc adeade adfadf gahgah afeafe abfabf afeafe aijaXj aieaieXhaehae
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,13,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1011011010 1111010001 0101011011 11110001010 111101101 1111101001 1101011110 11111001001 011101101 1101001110 1101111011 110101101 1011011110 1101001101 1101011010 10110110110 010101111 101001010 101001011 1101011010 1011100101 1001001101 11010101110 111101101 1011011110 1111001110 1111001111 111111110 110111010 110101101 1011011010 111111101 1101001110 1101000010 11010110001 111110001110 1101011010 1101001010 110110111 1111011110 110111010 110101101 1111011010 010101001 1101101001 1111011110 00100100100 010100101 1101011010 111110101 110110101 0101111010 0111001011 110100101 1101011010 0111101110 010011101 11010111010 1101011010 101111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 244
  • Average number of words per stanza: 46
  • Amount of lines: 60
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; thou, my, and, thy, of are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words what, shall, till, the are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word forget at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Itylus;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Algernon Charles Swinburne