This is an analysis of the poem Upon The Thief that begins with:

The thief, when he doth steal, thinks he doth gain;
Yet then the greatest loss he doth sustain.... 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: aabbccddeeffXceeddcceeccddccXXXfXXbbXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 38,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 0111111111 1101011101 11111111110 11110011010 0111010101 1111110101 111111111 1111011111 1101011011 0101011101 1100111101 1111111101 1101011100 1101110101 1001011111 1101110101 0111110111 1111100101 11010010011 11100111011 01111101110 11010101010 11010101011 11010101011 1101100011 1101111101 11010101001 01010111001 1001111110 011101101 0111010101 1011010101 1001001100 1100110101 10111101110 11110110110 111111110 1101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1709
  • Average number of words per stanza: 323
  • Amount of lines: 38
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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, doth, say, thou, thy, that are repeated.

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

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

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

  • summary of Upon The Thief;
  • 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 Bunyan