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

I walked beside a quiet sea,
At starlight, while the west was gray... 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: aaaaXa bccbbc dddddd effeef fggffX dffddf faaffX hffhhf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010101 11110111 11111101 1011011 10011100 11110111 11010001 11010111 01010111 10010111 10010101 110110111 111100111 10010101 01111101 11010101 11011111 11010101 01010011 11010011 110110100 11001111 01010111 101010101 01001111 10010101 11011101 01010101 11010101 11001010 110100111 010110111 01011101 11111111 11010011 01011011 11110101 11110000 11010101 11010101 11011001 01000100 11010101 11110101 11000101 110010001 11110001 11110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 205
  • Average number of words per stanza: 39
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of The Sunken City;
  • 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