This is an analysis of the poem A Summer Pilgrimage that begins with:

To kneel before some saintly shrine,
To breathe the health of airs divine,... 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: aabbccdd eXffccdd ddggaaXc aaaaaadd ddddffff ffaaddhh iijjffjX ggffXjaa XXddhhaa eeggaaXX aaddiiaX cXhhddhh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01011101 01010101 11110101 0101100101 11010111 01110111 010100111 01110001 00110111 11010110 11110001 01100101 11111101 010010101 11111101 11011001 11010101 11010101 11010111 01100100 11010101 11011101 11011101 01000111 01110101 01010101 10011101 010100101 11110111 01000101 11010001 11010101 00010101 01010101 01111101 00110111 11010101 01100101 01010111 11110100 110101011 010101011 11010101 11010101 11011111 11110101 10010111 110000100 10110101 010101101 11110101 01011001 11010101 01010100 01110111 101101000 11010011 01011101 11010100 11010111 110101000 110010101 10110101 01000111 010010100 111110000 11100111 11010100 11010101 01110111 11111111 01010001 110100101 11110101 11111111 01011111 11010111 01010111 11010100 01110110 01011101 11011101 11111101 01010001 10110011 111100101 11010111 01011100 11111111 00110100 10110101 01000101 01110101 100010101 11110101 11010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 274
  • Average number of words per stanza: 49
  • Amount of lines: 96
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; of, and are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of A Summer Pilgrimage;
  • 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