This is an analysis of the poem The Passing Show that begins with:

I
I know not if it was a dream. I viewed... 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: abbcb dded aaba ccfc eedX ggag bbXX aaba bbfb bbgb hhiX ddXd X hhXh bbbb aaXa dddd hheh ddid hhXh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,1,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1 1110010111 0101010101 0101010101 1101010111 01010011001 1001010001 10101111101 1001100001 1111000101 1011000101 1101000101 1011000101 1001110101 0111110101 11001101101 0101010101 0101010101 0101010001 01011000101 1011010101 01100010001 1101010101 1101010101 1111000111 1101010101 0111101111 1101001100 11110101100 1001100001 0111110101 01010011001 0101000101 0101000101 1101010001 1111010101 0111010111 1011110001 1111010001 1101011101 0101010010 1111110011 0101010101 1101000111 11110101010 0011010101 1001010101 0101110101 1011011001 1 1110010111 1001110101 1111111101 1101111101 0101110101 1011001101 1100011111 1101010101 10101110111 1111010100 0111110101 0101010001 1111110001 1101010101 1011000111 1101010101 0101010101 1101010101 1011010111 0101000101 0101010101 1100010101 1111010101 1100010101 1100110001 10011000101 100101101 0111010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 20
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 159
  • Average number of words per stanza: 30
  • Amount of lines: 78
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; i, of, to, my, how, and are repeated.

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase i connects the lines.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ambrose Bierce