This is an analysis of the poem Prologue To Caesar Borgia that begins with:

The unhappy man, who once has trailed a pen,
Lives not to please himself, but other men; ... 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: aabbccddeefffffgghhbbddddffiibbjjkkXggkkff
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 42,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 00101111101 1101011101 0111010111 1101111110 1110010001 11001110101 11001000101 0111011101 1101010101 0100010001 0111010011 0011110111 1011111111 1101010001 1011000101 11101111111 1011010101 1101010101 0111011101 1011110101 1110110101 1100100101 1100011101 1101010111 1101110111 1111111101 1111110001 1111110101 1101011101 1111010101 1100111101 1101011101 0111010101 1111011101 1101110111 1101010100 1100010111 0111111111 10011111001 1101001001 1111110111 01111101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1877
  • Average number of words per stanza: 342
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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; you, of, and are repeated.

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

  • summary of Prologue To Caesar Borgia;
  • 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 Dryden