This is an analysis of the poem After-Life that begins with:

O BOON and curse in one — this ceaseless need
Of looking still behind us and before!... 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: ababcbXbdadaececfcfcgXgcXhhhhcicijbjbhahaahah
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 45,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111010101 0101011101 1001011101 1101010001 1101011101 10001011101 1110000100 0111110101 1101001101 11010101111 0101110101 0101111101 1101010111 1111011100 1101111101 0101110101 1001010101 1001011101 0111110101 1111001101 1011010111 11111111100 11110100101 11000101001 111101 0111 1011111101 1101110111 1111110111 01001011101 1101010011 1111110111 11011101001 1101110101 1001011111 1001010101 1101110101 1100011011 00110110101 1011110101 11110011101 1111110101 0101010101 11010101001 1101010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1915
  • Average number of words per stanza: 359
  • Amount of lines: 45
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (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; of, we, and, in are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words some, somewhere are repeated.

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

  • summary of After-Life;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Christopher Pearse Cranch