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

What should the wars do with these jigging fools?
...

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: a baba cdcd efef gbgb hchc fffX hiai jfjf bfbf bbbb ibib kaka icXc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101101101 0101011101 0111011101 1101010111 0101011101 101010010101 110010010111 00101011101 1110010101 1101011001 010100100101 10110101101 10110100101 1011010101 1111010001 1101011011 1001010001 1101010001 1001010011 0110100101 1011010101 0110110101 1100010001 1101010110 110100001100 1101001101 01010010001 0100110101 1011110101 1001010101 1111010011 10010101001 1011010101 1101011101 110010100 1101010101 1100010101 01000010001 1110100101 1101010101 1101010111 11111111100 0111000111 1011011101 1001110101 11100010111 1101010101 1101010111 1000110101 1110011110 0111010011 111111111 1011010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 14
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 158
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 66
  • 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; man, to, and are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Intellectual;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Karl Shapiro