Insomnia I by Howard Nemerov: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Insomnia I that begins with:

Some nights it's bound to be your best way out,
When nightmare is the short end of the stick,...

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: aXXXbXX XXcbbadac aXdcbcc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,9,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101001111 1110011001 11001011011 011111000101 1101001101 01011010101 10011010101 1110010001 1001010101 1101011111 00010011111 01100110101 0100100101 010100101001 1011011101 11010010001 11111101101 1100010011110 0101000101 001001000101 1101001101 1101010001 1110001111
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 339
  • Average number of words per stanza: 60
  • Amount of lines: 23
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; when, in are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word then at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Insomnia I;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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