This is an analysis of the poem On War that begins with:

Great God, whom heav'n, and earth, and sea.
With all their countless hosts, obey,... 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: aabb ccaa ddcX ccee ffcc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11111111 01110101 01110101 110011101 01110101 11010001 11010101 110010101 11100101 110001101 10110101 1111000010 01011111 11010101 01010101 01110101 01111101 11010101 10010101 11010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 138
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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; and is repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Augustus Montague Toplady