This is an analysis of the poem What I Call Living that begins with:

The miser thinks he's living when he's hoarding up his gold;
The soldier calls it living when he's doing something bold;...

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 aadddde effee
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,7,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 01011101110101 01010101110101 01010100010101 10101001110101 111000101111101 11010101010111 11010101100101 011001101011101 11010100111111 101010101011101 11010100011101 101110101011111 101111100011111 001011111010101 010101010110101 1011101000101001 001010101010101 001011100010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 354
  • Average number of words per stanza: 68
  • Amount of lines: 18
  • Average number of symbols per line: 58 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; living, he's, i, to, and, it's are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of What I Call Living;
  • 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