This is an analysis of the poem Before You Came that begins with:

Before you came things were just what they were:
the road precisely a road, the horizon fixed, ...

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: abcc deaX dXbX cbXX fXefc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0111101110 010100100101 01001101 010111110101 010111010 1010011111 1110011010 11111111 0111101001 100100111100 11001011001 110011 1101010101 111111 0101101 01010110010011 111101101 01101001 011001 011011 010110100101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 169
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • 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; of is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word with 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 Before You Came;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz