This is an analysis of the poem Unanswered Prayers that begins with:

Like some school master, kind in being stern,
Who hears the children crying o’er their slates... 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: abcddebfddaggcddgXcXcddfdecadXcg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 32,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111010101 1101010111 1101110111 1001010101 1101001101 1001011011 0101110101 1111011101 1111010111 11111011111 1101011101 1111010 101 1001110101 0110010111 11010111010 1111010101 1111011011 110101 0111 11101010101 10110101101 1001110101 1101010111 0110001011 1111100101 1100111111 11110111010 1001010111 1100111101 1111011101 101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1307
  • Average number of words per stanza: 245
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of Unanswered Prayers;
  • 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