This is an analysis of the poem Fifty Years (1863-1913) that begins with:

O brothers mine, to-day we stand
Where half a century sweeps our ken,... 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 cdcd efef ghgh abab abab iaia caca bebe aaaa ejej fdfd keke lala ifif cbXb bgbg dbdbXalal
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010111 110100111 11110101 11111111 11000101 110100001 111111001 11011101 11011100 010101001 10110101 11110101 01011101 01011101 11010101 11000101 11010101 11011111 01011101 01010101 01111101 01111101 11111111 11010101 11010101 01001111 01001101 11110101 11011101 11111001 11011101 11110111 11010111 110011101 10110101 11010101 11011101 11111001 11110101 10011101 11111101 11111101 11011101 11110001 11011011 11111001 11010101 11111101 11110111 010101001 01010101 01110111 010010101 11111111 01110101 01111101 111101011 11111101 110010111 01100001 10110111 010101001 10111100 11010111 01010100 11011101 11111001 1100101111 11111101 11111101 11111101 01010101 11110111 11110101 11110101 11010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 19
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 148
  • Average number of words per stanza: 27
  • Amount of lines: 78
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; have, and are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words this, where, to, and, the, that are repeated.

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

  • summary of Fifty Years (1863-1913);
  • 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 Weldon Johnson