This is an analysis of the poem When An Old Man Gets To Thinking that begins with:

When an old man gets to thinking of the years he's traveled through,
He hears again the laughter of the little ones he knew....

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: aabb ccdd eeff ddffXffdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111110100001101 11010100010111 10010101100101 111010100011001 111111101010001 111011101111101 101010101010101 101010101011101 111110101110001 111110100010101 1110100101111101 111000111110101 111010101010111 111010110010111 101010101010101 101011101010101 1011101000010101 111011101110101 1010101010101001 101010101001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 254
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 63 (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; he, of, and, in, we, his, that are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words he, when are 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 When An Old Man Gets To Thinking;
  • 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