This is an analysis of the poem Three Graves that begins with:

HOW did he live, this dead man here,
With the temple above his grave? ...

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: abaccbXXccddeefff gggghhiiddjjkkffcc acaccccccggccllcckkffmmnnmm
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 17,18,27,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 10110111 00100101 11101101001 1110100101 1011101101 0111101111 010110101 0111110100 0100110101 0100110101 0101101001 00101100101 1101111011 10101110111 1111111101 1110111101 10101100101 101111011 00101101 101111011 1101011011 011111001 1100100101 010011101 110100111 1101111011 10111110101 11110010110 11011101110 110100100110 101110101110 1110101001 1011100101 11101001011 1100111111 110111111 0010111 111110111 111000111111 00101110111 0011110111 0111110111 111111111 1110010111 11001101101 011001001001 11100110111 10101101001 10111011010 101111010010 1111011111 111111001 1111011010 11101001110 1101111101 11101110111 111011111001 01101111101 1111101101 010100111 111100000 111111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 901
  • Average number of words per stanza: 181
  • Amount of lines: 62
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; he, his, and, for, her, never are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words he, his, in, for are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines her is repeated).

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

  • summary of Three Graves;
  • 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 Boyle O'Reilly