For The One Who Would Take Man's Life In His Hands by Delmore Schwartz: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem For The One Who Would Take Man's Life In His Hands that begins with:

Tiger Christ unsheathed his sword,
Threw it down, became a lamb....

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: aXbbXbXbccDd eafafXffae XdXdaaDdbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,10,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10110001 1010101 11010101 1110001 1011111 1010101 01011100 11010101 111011101 01000101 1110101 110101001 11011101 11110101 11111101 01011111 1010101 01010100 01110101 01010111 100101000 01010101 1011101101 1000011111 10110111 10010101 10110101 01110101 1110101 1110101 0101001001 01001001010
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 355
  • Average number of words per stanza: 62
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of For The One Who Would Take Man's Life In His Hands;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Delmore Schwartz

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