That Women Are But Men's Shadows by Ben Jonson: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem That Women Are But Men's Shadows that begins with:

Follow a shadow, it still flies you;
Seem to fly it, it will pursue:... 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: aaaaBB cbcbBB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 100110111 10100001 110101011 10011011 11110101 11011011 111101110 11111111 111101110 11101111 11110101 11011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 210
  • Average number of words per stanza: 42
  • Amount of lines: 12
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you, it are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines you is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word men 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 That Women Are But Men's Shadows;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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