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

Death or dishonor, which is best to taste?
A Roman sentinel in Pompeii,... 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: aXabcc cdcdee XfXfbb ghghcc bcbccc icicaaXibibaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,13,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101010101 010100010 1111011101 1001010101 0101010101 1001111101 1101010101 10111001001 0100110111 10010110000 1011011101 11011010111 1001110101 0011010101 1101011101 0101011101 0111111001 1001010101 01010101011 11110110010 0111011101 11010001110 1101011101 0100010001 0101011001001 1100010111 0100010101 0101110101 1001010111 10111001001 010110101 1101010111 1101010001 1011100101 0101110011 1101011101 1111010111 0111100101 0101011101 1101010101 1101010101 1101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 264
  • Average number of words per stanza: 50
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • 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; with 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 the 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 The Roman Sentinal;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Henry Abbey