This is an analysis of the poem On The Progress Of The Soul... that begins with:

Forget this rotten world, and unto thee
Let thine own times as an old story be.... 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: aabbccddeebbffgghhiiddjjhhkkdXllmkhXnnhhccagoommhheeaahheeaammhhmmffhhhhX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 73,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 0101011101 1111111100 0101101111 1111110101 1101010111 0111010101 1101010111 1011011101 1111110101 1010110101 1111011101 11011010 0101111001 1011110101 0011000100 1101011100 11010101101 1101110101 1011011101 1111010101 1001010110 1100010111 1111100111 0111011101 1101101101 0010111100 11110100010 110110101010 1011010101 11010111100 11011110101 1101011101 110110111100 1101010010 11011001101 1100111101 1111110101 1101000101 11110101001 1101010011 11010110101 11010010101 1111011100 01011100100 1111111111 1111100001 0111011101 1101010100 101111100 1101010001 1111111111 1111110101 1000010111 1101010110 1111110011 11111000111 1011111101 111010010111 1111011111 1101111111 1111111100 1101100101 1111011101 1101110101 1111111101 1101101100 1111011011 1101011111 1101100101 11100001011 1111011111 1101101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 3454
  • Average number of words per stanza: 591
  • Amount of lines: 73
  • 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; not, she, it, and, think, thy, they, that, thee are repeated.

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase be connects the lines.

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

  • summary of On The Progress Of The Soul...;
  • 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