This is an analysis of the poem In The Grand Canon that begins with:

The strongholds these of those strange, mighty gods
Who walked the earth before man’s feeble race, ... 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: abXbabbaccXXadddddeeddXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 24,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0111011101 1101011101 11010101100 0101111101 101100110010 1101010111 1101110001 1101110101 0111110101 010101101 0100011110 0111111000 1111110101 0101110111 1111001101 0111000101 10110010111 1001100111 0111110101 1111010001 01010011101 1101110101 1111110101 1110010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1074
  • Average number of words per stanza: 188
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • 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; and is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of In The Grand Canon;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ina D. Coolbrith