This is an analysis of the poem The Slave Singing At Midnight that begins with:

Loud he sang the psalm of David!
He, a Negro and enslaved,... 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: aaXXbXccXXbbddaaddbbXXbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 24,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101010 1010101 1010100 1010111 011011010 11001010 0011111 1111111 10101100 11101010 1010111 1010101 10100010 11101010 1011101 1010101 11100110 10101010 1111101 1110111 10111010 10101100 1111101 1010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 783
  • Average number of words per stanza: 141
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (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; sang, of are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Slave Singing At Midnight;
  • 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