This is an analysis of the poem Retirement that begins with:

My gentle friend! I hold no creed so false
As that which dares to teach that we are born... 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: abcXaacdeXXefafXgbeXdehdijejiXebaghg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 36,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101111111 1111011111 1101011001 01001101110 1110010101 1001010101 1001011101 1111011111 1101000101 1101010111 1111111111 0101011111 0111011101 0101011101 0111011101 01111101000 0101111101 1101011100 1111010101 11000101000 11011101001 0111110101 1001110110 1111110101 1101010101 0101110101 0011010111 1101110111 0100010101 01010010101 1001011101 0101110111 1001101101 0101110101 0100111111 00110110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1611
  • Average number of words per stanza: 295
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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; that, and, their, with are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Retirement;
  • 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 Timrod