This is an analysis of the poem How Oswald Dined With God that begins with:

Over Northumbria's lone, gray lands,
Over the frozen marl,... full text

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: aXab bcbc dbdb efef ghgh eiei ebeb eXeX gigX hhhX gfgf gXgX gege hghX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 10100111 100101 1100100111 10100101 101110111 101011010 111100111 10110110 100100101 1011010001 11010001001 111001 110110101 1101101 10110101 11001101 1001101101 00111101 11100101 10100101 11101101 11011011 100110101 11111001 100100101 1001001 1010100111 11101001 100100101 11101001 1011111001 101111 1101001011 1001001 100110101 11011010 110100101 100111 1111001011 111001 10011101 110101 10110101 0100101 10111101 00011 1010111 101101 100111001 1111001 100111011 1011101 10010101 1111001 110010101 1101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 14
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 144
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 56
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; and, his are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word ' at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase sweet connects the lines.

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

  • summary of How Oswald Dined With God;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Edwin Markham