This is an analysis of the poem Penance that begins with:

My lover died a century ago,
Her dear heart stricken by my sland'rous breath,...

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 cXcd bebe fdfd egeg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101010001 0111011101 10001011111 0101 11111110101 111101001010 1111010111 0111 0101110101 11110101111 1001110101 1111 1111111101 1111010111 0101110101 0101 11110000111 1111111001 0111011111 1101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 168
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; that is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word that is repeated.

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

  • summary of Penance;
  • 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 McCrae