This is an analysis of the poem Good Friday that begins with:

Am I a stone and not a sheep
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,... 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: abba cdXc eded XfXf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011101 1111110111 0101111111 1111 111101 1001010101 11101010100 110111 110111 1111000101 0100110111 1101 11110 1111110001 1011011111 1101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 129
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (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; not, so are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word not is repeated.

    The author used the same word not at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Good Friday;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Christina Georgina Rossetti