This is an analysis of the poem To My Friend Onthe Death Of His Sister that begins with:

Thine is a grief, the depth of which another
May never know;... 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 Xgcg dhdh didi XgXg gjXj kdkd gjgj jbXb lele
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10010101010 1101 110010111010 0111 11111011010 1101 010010011010 0101 11011101010 1111 10110111010 1101 11111101100 1101 010011011010 1101 10111001110 1101 110100001010 0101 01010111010 1101 10011001010 0111 11111111100 1100 10010111110 0101 10111101010 1101 010010001100 0011 11111111110 11110 11110111110 10010 11001011010 1101 100100011010 0111 11110101010 1101 11111101110 0101 10110101010 1101 11110111010 1101
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 126
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (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.

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

  • summary of To My Friend Onthe Death Of His Sister;
  • 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