This is an analysis of the poem The Problem of Anxiety that begins with:

Fifty years have passed
since I started living in those dark towns...

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: abaaXXX caXXcbaX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: rondeau
  • Metre: 10011 1110100111 1110101 11111111101 10100110001001 1011000110010 1110010010101 01010001111 1001110011 010011111100 10010111011 10110111 110010010100 101111110010 001101010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 337
  • Average number of words per stanza: 62
  • Amount of lines: 15
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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; i is repeated.

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

  • summary of The Problem of Anxiety;
  • 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