This is an analysis of the poem Penalty that begins with:

Because of the fullness of what I had,
All that I have seems poor and vain. ... 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: abab bcbc dedeXabab
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0100100111 11111111 01110101011 1110100101 0010100111 11011111 11111100111 1110111101 00110100111 011101101 11101011001 1100100111 0010110111 11110101101 111111001011 01110101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 176
  • Average number of words per stanza: 36
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i, and are repeated.

    The author used the same word from 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 Penalty;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox