This is an analysis of the poem The Prism that begins with:

I.
A pool of broken sunbeams lay...

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: a abab cdcd efef ebeb bXbX X gggg gXga Xhch aaaaXbhbh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,4,4,4,4,4,1,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 1 01010101 010101 100110111 110101 11010100 110101 11010101 0010101 10110101 010100 11110111 110101 11110101 110101 11010011 100101 111101001 011000 010101101 110100 1 11111101 110011 010101011 111101 01010101 0100101 11110101 011101 11110010 110011 11010111 110011 11011101 011101 11111101 11001011 01110111 010101 111111001 101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 99
  • Average number of words per stanza: 19
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of The Prism;
  • 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 MacDonald