This is an analysis of the poem Habeas Corpus that begins with:

1 My body, eh? Friend Death, how now?
2 Why all this tedious pomp of writ?... 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 efef bbbb agag hbhb hbhb XbXb bibi dbdb haha fXbaba
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 111011111 1110100101 111010111 1110100111 101110101 111110101 10100101001 101111111 111011101 100010111 111010101 111011101 111110111 111011101 101010011 1110011111 111011101 111110101 111011111 111111111 111111111 111111101 111011101 110110001 111101101 111101101 111011101 111110101 111110101 110010111 1110011110 1101010101 101011100 101110101 1010011111 111011101 111010101 111010101 101011101 101010101 111111111 111011101 101010101 101110111 0101 111110111 111011111 111101111 111011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 158
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 49
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; thy, thou, i, in, of, so, its are repeated.

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

  • summary of Habeas Corpus;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Helen Hunt Jackson