This is an analysis of the poem What We Must Do that begins with:

What we must do and may not do.
This is the World's whole refrain,...

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: abbacbbcdaadceec feeffbbfgXcghiihdjjdakka
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 16,24,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11111111 0001101 11010101 110101 11111101 11111101 11110101 111111 10010101 01011101 11011111 010101 11011101 11010111 11011001 111111 11110111 01010111 01010100 110101 10110111 11010111 11010101 111101 11110101 11110100 10101110 010001 01011101 10010011 11110101 111101 11110101 11110101 11011111 11011111 11111101 11010101 11011101 10110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 668
  • Average number of words per stanza: 131
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; my, love, you, that are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of What We Must Do;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Dora Sigerson Shorter