This is an analysis of the poem When I Was A Boy that begins with:

When I was a boy
a god would often rescue me ...

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: aababba cdefcXX Xbee efXd ebXg XgX Xb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,4,4,4,3,2,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101 01110101 00101100010 1111111 001110 11010 1101 1110101 0110110 1011 10101 1101011 1111010 101011100 1110 101 1111 11111 100011011 1111011 1110110 1101110 1111001001 11101010 110100010 1101010101 01000010 11111010 01101101 111 001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 118
  • Average number of words per stanza: 22
  • Amount of lines: 37
  • Average number of symbols per line: 22 (very short strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 4
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of When I Was A Boy;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Friedrich Holderlin