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

I sat by my window one night,
And watched how the stars grew high;... 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: abab cbcb bdbd eXee bebe aeae eaeaXbccc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11111011 1110111 1011100101 00101101 010010111 0101101 1010101001 0111111 010110101 1111101 1011100111 11011001 10010101 0101100 1011010101 0010001 110101101 11100111 1010110111 10100001 111011011 0110111 1010100101 1011001 1101111 0101101 11111111 11110111 1111111 10100111 11101001 001111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 139
  • Average number of words per stanza: 27
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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; and is 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 Musings;
  • 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 Wadsworth Longfellow