This is an analysis of the poem An Old Man On The River Bank that begins with:

And yet we should consider how we go forward.
To feel is not enough, nor to think, nor to move...

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: aXbc adXbdXeefdd gXab dhXfadgccghggcX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,11,4,15,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111101011110 010101101101 1011100100101111 110111011001 11110100111110 1111110111010 10100111001010001001 11010110001101110 010001010100011010111 1010011011111 0110101000110110100 11101110101101010011010 1010011010111 11110101100111011 0110010 1110110110001011 01110101101110101010 1110101111101010100111 10101111010111111 010101111010100101 11111111010110 01011100111100 111111111110 1110111000001 01011011101110000101 00101111101011011 01010101100011010101 1111011010010101001101 1110101101001100010101 01010001101011010110 11101110101010111 1101010101010011111111 100010100111101011011110001 100101011100100111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 577
  • Average number of words per stanza: 110
  • Amount of lines: 34
  • Average number of symbols per line: 67 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 13
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; to, nor, and, same, our, us, of, we are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word and 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 An Old Man On The River Bank;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Giorgos Seferis