This is an analysis of the poem Prayer (I) that begins with:

Prayer the Church's banquet, angels' age,
God's breath in man returning to his birth, ... full text

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: abab cdcd eXXe ff
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,2,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: Shakespearean sonnet
  • Metre: 101010101 1101010001 01010110100 0101010111 10011001010 011011101 01111000110 0101111111 1011111111 0101010001 1001010111 0101010101 1101011011 0101010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 157
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of Prayer (I);
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by George Herbert