A Penitential Hymne by Henry King: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem A Penitential Hymne that begins with:

Hearken O God unto a Wretches cryes
Who low dejected at thy footstool lies. ... 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: Xabbccddeeffbbccccbbddccffaagg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 30,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1011100101 1101011101 1101001101 1101110100 1111110101 0111010111 1111010101 1111011101 011110011001 1111111100 1111111101 0101000111 1111011101 1011001010 1110110101 1111000101 1111110101 1110010101 0101010101 1111011101 1111011111 1101010101 1101000101 1101111101 1101011101 1111110101 1111010011 1101101111 1111010101 0111000101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1281
  • Average number of words per stanza: 237
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (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; to is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word i is repeated.

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

  • summary of A Penitential Hymne;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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