This is an analysis of the poem My Soul And I that begins with:

Stand still, my soul, in the silent dark
I would question thee,... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: abab cdcX efeX ghgh bgbg aeae igig chch chch jeje gbgX gfgf ebeX XgXg gkgk hbhb fafa XcXc fcfc cgcg dgdg lclc eeee gcgc bXbX dkdk bfbf memX gdgd dXde bXbX hnhn kiki ejej igig nono dede cgcg gcgc fgfg ecec XoXo XfmX bhXh ggggXghgh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111100101 11101 010011111 0111 11111101 10111 110110101 11010 111000101 1111 110011101 1101 11111101 11101 111011101 1111 11110111 11101 00110111 0101 101111001 1101 1111110111 0101 11111111 1111 0010100111 0111 11011101 1101 11111101 1111 11011111 1111 11110111 1111 111010001 1101 001011001 0111 100101001 1111 010010101 1101 11011101 1111 011111111 1111 11011111 0101 101010101 1111 101011101 1101 11101011 1101 111110101 1101 110010101 10111 11111111 1111 110110101 11011 10111101 1111 110101111 0111 110111010 0101 101100111 00111 111101111 0101 111110111 10101 111100101 00111 1110010101 1111 11111011110 0101 0101001010 1101 111101111 0111 1011011101 1101 1110111101 00111 111101101 11101 111011101 10101 10110111001 1101 101011111 111010 111010111 110110 11011111 00111 101101101 00111 110010111 11101 1010100100 1111 110101010 11101 1010101100 10100 10111101 11001 010100101 0101 11111101 100110 11010101 100110 1010110101 101110 111011101 0101 111100101 001011 110110101 1101101 10011001 0101 11010111 0101 0010010111 111010 1010110101 101010 11011101 1101 10100101101 1111 100111101 101010 10101111 111110 11111100 1101 10100101 01101 11110111 111 0010110101 1101 110101001 0111 101101111 1111 10100101 11110 110101011 01110 101010111 11011 1010110101 1101 11011100 11010 0110101100 01010 10111010010 0110 10101111010 1110 1110111011 1101 10101001010 0101 111111101 1001 010110111 1110 10100010101 1101 011010011 1111
  • Amount of stanzas: 46
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 116
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 184
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (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; thou, soul, for, they, of, and, thy, in are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words what, and at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word ' 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 My Soul And I;
  • 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