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

Enter JANUS
JANUS... 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: aaabbacc da Xcceffe g XbddbhiiH J H akkbb Xb llhhbbaahH JhH aM Xn lm XGM JMmGMa iifnXXoneehbbh Jh imeem Jh Xphphofoo Jh aaccffhh Jh XccceqqeC Xl KiCaKacKXJCKCKKi
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,2,7,1,9,1,1,5,2,10,3,2,2,2,3,6,14,2,5,2,9,2,8,2,9,2,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1010 10 1010111 11010101 010100111 000101 01010101 1111111 10100010011011101 11111010 10 1010011 1111111 110101 1111 0101 010101 101010 10 1111111111111111 01111 11011 01101101010 11101011011 11001 11011 11001101 101 11001101 10 11010101 110101 111101001 11000110 10 1100010101 1110100110010 010 0110111001 110111101 11111111001 1101100101 1101110001 11011101001 01011011101 11011011001 101 01011011101 11011011001 10 1111001 1010 101 010 1101 10 010101010 101010101 101 1111001 1011101 010101010 101010101 10010010 101 1 01010101 01010101 1110 1110 10101110 110101 1110101 11010001 1011101 0101 01111101 0101110101 101 1011 1 1010101 110101 101011 0100101 101 10101 10 11010101 111101 10010101 110111 0111010 011111 1101010 111110 101 011101 1010 10 1011111 10101011 1001101 1011101 1111111 1011101 101 10101 10 011111 110101 11011101 1101010101 1111 1101 010101 1100101 10 100010 1110101 01 1111001 010 1100101 10 1111101 1100101 101 1100101 1110101 1111001 1100101 1100101 10101100110
  • Amount of stanzas: 28
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 139
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 136
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (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; his, ha, and, my, sound, i, all are repeated.

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

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines janus, , diana, mars, honour, venus are repeated).

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The words/phrases janus, , diana, mars, venus, all connect the lines.

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

  • summary of The Secular Masque;
  • 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