X: And Must I Sing? by Ben Jonson: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem X: And Must I Sing? that begins with:

And must I sing? what subject shall I chuse?
Or whose great name in Poets heaven use?... 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: aba ccc ddd eee fXf bbb XgX bbX ggg hhh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111101111 1111010101 10110001101 1010101111 0011010101 0011101101 10111111001 1111111111 1101110111 1011011001 01110011001 0011001101 1011111111 1111101110 1001110111 1111110111 1011010111 11110001101 1011111011 1011001101 0100110111 1001011101 1111010100 1101110100 11010001001 1101001111 010110111 1111010111 1111011111 11110011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 133
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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; thy, of, his are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of X: And Must I Sing?;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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