This is an analysis of the poem The Eternal Goodness that begins with:

O Friends! with whom my feet have trod
The quiet aisles of prayer,... 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 cdcd efef cgcg aaaa hihi XjXj gkgk cici fgfgfafa Xlil kmkm gcgc gdgd nfnf egeg mmmm lblb cbcb glglXglgl
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,8,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011111 0101001 11001111 110111 11110100 110111 11111101 110111 11110111 011101 01011111 110111 11000101 110111 01011101 010101 11011101 110101 111101011 0111001 11010101 0100111 11011111 011111 11011100 010111 11111000 110101 11110101 110111 11110101 110101 11110001 111111 110100101 010101 11011111 110101 11011011 010101 100100101 111111 01111101 111100 11011100 110111 11010001 110001 01111101 111101 11100111 010101 11010101 010101 10010101 010111 11111101 110111 11111111 111111 11110101 010101 01011111 010101 10111111 011011 0111011 110101 110001111 111101 11110111 110111 11010101 110101 11011101 110111 11110101 110101 11011101 010111 11001101 011101 11111111 011101 11111111 110110 01101111 110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 21
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 125
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 88
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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; with, i, his, and are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words ye, i 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 The Eternal Goodness;
  • 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