This is an analysis of the poem Love's Exchange that begins with:

LOVE, any devil else but you
Would for a given soul give something too. ... 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: aabbccd aaeeXcd ffghaaa iiiiggg ffhhccc bbjjghX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,7,7,7,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010111 1101011101 111101001 11101010011 10101101 101110111 11011101010 11110101 0101011111 11110101 01101101 111100110 01111101 01111100 11110111 1111110111 11110110 01111100 11111101 111110111 0101111111 011101111 0111111101 11111111 0101110101 10111011 11110011 1011110101 01111101 11101000101 011100001 1111010101 11111111 10010111 1001110001 10100101 1110110100 010100111 1111101111 11011110 10011110 1100111000
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 269
  • Average number of words per stanza: 50
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 38 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, that, love, know are repeated.

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

  • summary of Love's Exchange;
  • 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