This is an analysis of the poem Hymn Xvi: Happy The Souls That First Believed that begins with:

Happy the souls that first believed,
To Jesus and each other cleaved,... 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: aXbb ccdd aaee dXaa XXbb eedd ffcc ddgg fXbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10011101 010111010 11010001 01010101 110100001 11111101 110001001 11010101 01010001 01010101 11001111 110101001 11110101 11010101 10011101 01011101 110011101 1010111100100 11010101 11110101 01011001 01111101 11101101 11011101 101010111 11010011 11010011 11000101 10010101 11011101 10011101 11101111 110011101 01001100 110100101 11011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 142
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words they, o, the, ah are repeated.

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

  • summary of Hymn Xvi: Happy The Souls That First Believed;
  • 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 Wesley