This is an analysis of the poem The Widower that begins with:

She left him in death's egg,
the bone sack & the gunny sack,...

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: abbb cdeedeced XcaX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,9,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111011 0110101 01011011 1111011 011 010111 1010111 0101010 110010101 0101011 100010 01010100010 0101 110111 011100 110111 1101
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 158
  • Average number of words per stanza: 30
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of The Widower;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Erica Jong