This is an analysis of the poem The Joy of Living that begins with:

A song of the joy of living,
As clear as a bugle play... 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: Abcb deXe XeXe fgag dagaXAfcf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01001010 1110101 10101010 10100101 01001110 0011101 11001010 0011111 001011100 1101101 10001010 1010101 10101010 1100101 10101010 1011101 10010011 10101011 10010010 0001001 01001010 1010111 1111010 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 122
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (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; of is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word o is repeated.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Andrew Jackson Downing