Life flies, and never stays an hour, by Francesco Petrarch: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Life flies, and never stays an hour, that begins with:

‘La vita fugge, et non s'arresta una hora,'
Life flies, and never stays an hour,...

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: X aXbXcXXcXabddXXd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101111001010 111101110 1111010011 1011111 0101110111 101011010111 11011111101 0101110111 111111010011 01010111 01011001010 1101110011 11110101111 010111111110 1010011101110 0101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 224
  • Average number of words per stanza: 43
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (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; and, on are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Life flies, and never stays an hour,;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Francesco Petrarch

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