This is an analysis of the poem Who Bides His Time that begins with:

Who bides his time, and day by day
Faces defeat full patiently, ... 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: aXXaXbbB cdcdebeB cecefXfB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110011111 10011100 11010100 11010100 10110101 01000101 00110001 11001 110011101 01000101 11110101 11011101 01110001 11010101 01110001 11001 110011101 00111101 11110101 01010001 11110101 1101101001 01110101 11001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 268
  • Average number of words per stanza: 49
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (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; his is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words who, and are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word time at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Who Bides His Time;
  • 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 Whitcomb Riley