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

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright
The bridal of the earth and sky:... 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 cdcb dbdb eded
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11111111 01000111 01111101 1111 11111011 10110101 11010001 1111 1011011110 01110101 110111110 1111 100111001 11010101 11011101 1101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 127
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; so 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 sweet at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word die at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Virtue;
  • 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