This is an analysis of the poem Psalm that begins with:

Stillness; as if blind people sank down by autumnal wall,
Listening with rotten temples to the flight of the ravens;...

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 a b c d e c c c a X e b e a d d XXe
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10101101110101 100010100010010 101001001000010001001 110011001001011 0110000100101 10011011010010 101001101110 0010010101010101 0110001001011100100010 101100100110 00101111000101 00110111001011001 111101100010 0101010011010001 10011111101001 0110110101 110001100100110001110 1001110110100 010101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 19
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 59
  • Average number of words per stanza: 10
  • Amount of lines: 19
  • Average number of symbols per line: 59 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same word of 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 Psalm;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Georg Trakl