The Common Question by John Greenleaf Whittier: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem The Common Question that begins with:

Behind us at our evening meal
The gray bird ate his fill,... 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: aaXa aXbX XcXc Xddd eaXa Xefe gbaX afef dgXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01111101 011101 11010101 11011 11011101 110110 10010101 111101 11011101 110111 1101110110 110111 11001111 111111 11110111 010101 01011111 010111 11011101 010011 11010101 110111 11011101 111101 110001010 0101011 11010101 110110 01111101 110111 11110101 011111 11101111 110101 11111111 0110010
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 123
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • 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; his, and, with are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Common Question;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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