This is an analysis of the poem Psalm 114 that begins with:

When Israel came from Egypt’s coast,
And Goshen’s marshy plains,... 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: abab baba cdcd cece dfdf dgdg chchXchch
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010101 110101 11000101 010111 11011101 010001 11010101 010101 01100101 010011 11000101 110001 01010111 010111 11010101 110011 10011101 111011 11010101 111101 11011111 010101 11111101 110001 10010001 010101 01001001 011101 11010101 110101 10010101 010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 128
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • 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; and, thou, ye are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word the 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 Psalm 114;
  • 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 Smart