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

Yes, it was like you to forget,
And cancel in the welcome of your smile ... 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: abacacdbdd ebfeefggbeb aXggXaXcXfeeeahaah fXfiijfjaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,11,18,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 10111001 1100010011 110101 1001010111 0101011101 0111011101 11011101 011101 11110111 11111101 1111010101 111101001 01000101 11011001001 01011111 1111110101 1111011001 0101110011 11011111 1101011101 0101110111 11110101001 11110101001 1111010101 11010101 1011110110 0110010111 10010110 1101110101 01011101 11011110101 010111 110111101 0101011111 101101001 1101110111 01010001 01000101 1101010101 1101110110 11010111 0111010101 0100110101 111101 011001101 11010101 010001 01010101 10111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 465
  • Average number of words per stanza: 89
  • Amount of lines: 49
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; of, you, and are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Nepenthe;
  • 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 Van Dyke