This is an analysis of the poem The Prisoner For Debt that begins with:

LOOK on him! through his dungeon grate,
Feebly and cold, the morning light... 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: aaaabbbbccdedeXfggaahbhbhhggiifhfheebbaaafafddjjeedadaiibbjXdedehhjXXikbkbiibbbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 80,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11110101 10110101 11011111 100101 01010101 01010101 010101011 10010101 110010101 011000101 110100111 11010101 110011101 01011 10110110 01110111 10010101 001100101 11110001 01111100 11111111 010010101 11110101 111111 10111101 11010101 110100011 11110111 100110101 10010101 110111001 11010101 11010101 110111 10110101 01010101 10011111 011101001 11010101 01110001 11110101 110011111 11111101 110001 11110101 11110101 01010101 110010001 11010101 01111101 110111001 11010101 11011101 111101 11010001 01010011 11010101 01011101 11010101 011100100 11010101 11011101 11010111 110111 11110011 100001001 11011101 01011100 100011101 10110001 10011111 01010101 110001001 011101 10010101 11000101 01001101 00111101 11011101 0100001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 2746
  • Average number of words per stanza: 495
  • Amount of lines: 80
  • 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; his, and, half, of are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Prisoner For Debt;
  • 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