This is an analysis of the poem Understanding that begins with:
When I was young and frivolous and never stopped to think,
When I was always doing wrong, or just upon the brink; ...
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: aabbcc ddeecc ffcccc bbggcc hhiicX
- Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,
- Closest metre: iambic pentameter
- Сlosest rhyme: couplets
- Сlosest stanza type: tercets
- Guessed form: heroic couplets
- Metre: 11111100110101 11111101110101 111101010111111 010111001110101 11010111111110 11011101011101 110101011100111 01011111010111 11110100011101 10010001010001 01011111110111 11110101110101 11010101111111 11010111110101 111101011000111 11010111110111 11011111010111 11111111011101 11110101110111 11010101010111 01001101000101 11010111110101 11010001111101 11000101111101 11110111110101 11010011111101 11000101110101 01010111110101 110111001110101 010101111111100
- Amount of stanzas: 5
- Average number of symbols per stanza: 353
- Average number of words per stanza: 71
- Amount of lines: 30
- Average number of symbols per line: 58 (very long strings)
- Average number of words per line: 12
Mood of the speaker:
The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.
The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, i, when, to, he, me, of are repeated.
The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words when, and are repeated.
The poet repeated the same word understood at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.
If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:
- summary of Understanding;
- central theme;
- idea of the verse;
- history of its creation;
- critical appreciation.
Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!
Pay attention: the program cannot take into account all the numerous nuances of poetic technique while analyzing. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information.
