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

Before I sigh my last gasp, let me breathe,
Great Love, some legacies ; I here bequeath ... 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: Xabbccddd eefXgXbbh fXhhddBhh ccXfiiddd cceejjggX kkaaeeBbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 9,9,9,9,9,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 0111111111 1111001101 1101001111 0101111101 11010010011 01010111 11111101 11011011101 11110111111101 1100100101 1100110111 1001001100 010001011000 11001010110 11000100 111110101 0111110110 10010111100100 111101010 1101100100 0101110100 1110110100 1100110101 11011001 11111101 1011110100 10010111110100 111101001 1011110001 0101011100 1100010111 0101110111 10110011 11110101 0101010101 11011111111101 0111010111 1111011101 0101010101 1101010011 0101001101 11001101 11110111 110100110 1101011111000 1111111101 0111001111 1111000111 1101111101 1111011111 10110001 11111101 1011011111 0011100110010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 372
  • Average number of words per stanza: 69
  • Amount of lines: 54
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; i, to, my, love, me are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word my at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of The Will;
  • 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