This is an analysis of the poem Steel and Air that begins with:

And now I cannot remember how I would
have had it. It is not a conduit (confluence?) but a place....

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: abccXXaccaXXcbXbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 17,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11110010111 1100010100100101 010101110 010110 1011001001 1010111110 0011101101111 11010110 10001110110 00101011111 10111111000 010010010011 1101100010 10011101010 11010 11011 1101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 650
  • Average number of words per stanza: 135
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; place, you, to, it are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines order, further are repeated).

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

  • summary of Steel and Air;
  • 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