This is an analysis of the poem Rivers and Mountains that begins with:

On the secret map the assassins
Cloistered, the Moon River was marked ...

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: abcdaeaeaafgaahaXegiXjkfijbbaggbjhlbjbgaXaXfamkafhbXmebadb emjmlmhgageafcmcldgXfjheXgl
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 58,27,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101010010 10011011 100111010 001010101110 0010111001 11111 000100111001 101111 11010101001 100101001 110101111 110011 01001101001010 101101001 11010010111 0101001001 1011100 11010101001 011101 11110101 11010101111 101011010 1011101 010110010 01101001 110110010 011001 1011 1100110 010101011 01110101 1101010 01111110 11100010 10011101 010110010 1011110110 1110111101 00010001001 1111 111100111 11101 111101000 00110100 11001010 1101011 1000101 1001101 11001 1010001010 1010101 10101010100 10101 001001010 101011110 0101011 0101110 1001110101 111010101000011 001011001 011110 11111 00010101 100101111 101010111 110110000111 00101110100110 001001011011 100101101 11101 0011101 00001010 01011011101 01100100 110010101011 101101010 0101111 10100010101 1010110 01001010 101000001001 1101110110 0011001101 10010011 10100011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1529
  • Average number of words per stanza: 260
  • Amount of lines: 85
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; of, for are repeated.

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase do connects the lines.

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

  • summary of Rivers and Mountains;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by John Ashbery