This is an analysis of the poem A Little Litany that begins with:

When God turned back eternity and was young,
Ancient of Days, grown little for your mirth... 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: Xaba Xccc dbdb Xded XbXb Xfef
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 11110100111 1001110111 1100110101 11110101101 1101010101 1101110101 0101010101 0101110101 1101010101 11110101001 1001000111 1111111001 1001011001 0111010101 11111101110 11011000101 1111111101 1011110001 111110100100 1001010101 11001111101 11010001101 111101010010 1101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 174
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; your is repeated.

    The author used the same word or 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 A Little Litany;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Gilbert Keith Chesterton