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

Not how you would be thought of, your color
Being grey, silky, like a second skin, your hair...

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: aXbcXdefXg afXXbXcegdef
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,12,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1111010110 101101010111 100011011010 101011111010 1011110101 1101010101 01010110101 11011101001 0101101010011 010010011 111011100 110101011100 101011110010 001100111110 1110010010 110111000100 01011110111 11100111101 10111010111 011000111 1010010
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 307
  • Average number of words per stanza: 58
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • 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; your, and are repeated.

    The author used the same word not 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 Iris;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by James Phillip McAuley