This is an analysis of the poem A Lay Of Old Time that begins with:

One morning of the first sad Fall,
Poor Adam and his bride... 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: abab cbcb dede bbbb bfbf gbgb caca hXhe ibib cfcf cece hhXh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11000111 110101 10010101 110101 11000111 101101 110100101 110101 01010001 110101 01010111 010101 11010101 011101 11110101 010001 100111101 110101 11011101 111101 110101110 110101 110111110 111101 111101001 010111 11011101 110111 11011101 010101 110010101 010101 01000111 0100001 1110011001 010001 01110101 110111 11011101 110111 11110101 101111 11110101 111111 11110101 0100101 11110101 110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 122
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same words 'i, the 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 A Lay Of Old Time;
  • 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 Greenleaf Whittier