Roundelay by John Dryden: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Roundelay that begins with:

I.
Chloe found Amyntas lying, ... 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: XabABAB XABABAB XABABAB XABabab
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,7,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1 10110010 1010101 10001110 1010101 11101110 1111111 1 10001110 1010101 10101010 0011101 11101110 1111111 1 10101010 0011101 10101010 1111101 11101110 1111111 1 10101010 1111101 10101010 1111101 11101010 1111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 196
  • Average number of words per stanza: 35
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; to, kissed are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words kiss, kissed are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word pain at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Roundelay;
  • 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

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