From ‘the Cross’ by John Donne: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem From ‘the Cross’ that begins with:

Who can blot out the Cross, which th’instrument
Of God, dew’d on me in the Sacrament? ... 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: XXabccddcdbaeeffccggbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 22,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111011100 0111100100 11011101100 0111111100 11110011111 0111111111 1111110011 111111111 1011110101 1010010101 01001010101 11100011100 11010101001 1111011101 1111110111 111111010 1111101011 1110110101 1011011101 1101110111 1101111101 1001011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1034
  • Average number of words per stanza: 181
  • Amount of lines: 22
  • Average number of symbols per line: 46 (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; thou is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of From ‘the Cross’;
  • 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

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