Whether Or Not You Know This by Bulleh Shah: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Whether Or Not You Know This that begins with:

Whether or not you know this,
Enter my courtyard....

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: XAbA bXaA aXXA bXbA
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1011110 10111 1011111011111 10111 1110111111 111100101110 11100101 10111 10011101011 110 111111010 10111 111101101 111100 10011111 10111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 119
  • Average number of words per stanza: 22
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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; you, my are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word courtyard 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 Whether Or Not You Know This;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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