This is an analysis of the poem Elegy Xvii: On His Mistress that begins with:

By our first strange and fatal interview,
By all desires which thereof did ensue,... 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: XabbcdeedcbbffgghhiiggggcdffbbjjXkcdbbffkkdcbbbbbbaaddXi
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 56,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111110101 11010111001 1111011101 1111000101 0101110100 0111110101 1101111101 11111110001 1101110111 1111011100 1110110001 1111111100 1011110101 0111011111 1111111101 1101001011 1011101101 1101010111 1101010101 1001111101 1111010111 110101010 110011111 1110110011 10100110100 11010101100 0101010111 1101011011 01010101011 01010001001 1011111111 0111110101 101100100 1000101010 1101010100 0101010110 0101111101 10100010111 0111100111 01101111001 1111011101 11010011101 0111111111 10010010100 0101010101 1101110010 1111111100 1111111101 1111011111 10011101111 0101010111 1111011111 10011011111 0111011111 1011010111 10011101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 2439
  • Average number of words per stanza: 440
  • Amount of lines: 56
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; by, and, i, my, he, of, thee, nor, o are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words by, nor are repeated.

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

  • summary of Elegy Xvii: On His Mistress;
  • 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 Donne