This is an analysis of the poem The Boy That Was that begins with:

When the hair about the temples starts to show
the signs of gray,...

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: AbcbdcdcefXf gehXbbdbXidiXhbbbgfffAibi
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,25,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10101010101 0101 10101010111001 01 0010001110 11101 010101011001 01 101110100010 101 00111110101 01001 1011101010 10100 101010011010 1001 1110111011 10101 11101010101 0101 1100101011000 001 101010101010 111 11101011111 0100 010101010111 11 1010101110 10111 101010110011 111 10101010101 1101 10101110100 0101
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 378
  • Average number of words per stanza: 72
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • 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; of, and, he, him are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word when 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 The Boy That Was;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Edgar Albert Guest