This is an analysis of the poem The Shadows On The Wall that begins with:

Fever sapped my very life-blood, frenzy fired my tortured brain,
And the friends who watched beside me, felt their lingering hopes were vain. ... 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: aabbccddbb ddaaeeccffccccgg hhggccdd ffiidd ccaajjdd bbbbccdd aaccaXdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,16,8,6,8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1011101110101101 1011101111100101 111010001110011 1000010101011101 101111110100111 101010101100101 101111101110101 101010101110101 111010101010100 1110000111010101 101010111111101 111011101011101 111011100010101 1011110000011001 0010101010111011 1111101010111011 101110101010111 1010101010101011 101011101100111 101110101010001 111010101110101 111011101010111 111010100011101 1111011000101001 101010101100101 101010101111001 111111100011101 111010110011111 110110111110111 101010111010101 011011101110101 1010110001010101 111111101110001 001010111110101 111010101110011 011010101110101 101111100111001 111010101010111 101111100110111 101111101011101 1011100100010111 001010101010101 111111101110101 101010111011111 111110101111101 111110101000101 1110011101110101 111110111010101 101011101110001 10100111010110001 101111101110111 0010001010101001 1100101010111011 101111101010101 101110101010001 111000010011101 101110100011111 111010100010001 101000101110101 111010101010011 011010101010101 101010100111011011 111011101011001 001010111011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 599
  • Average number of words per stanza: 107
  • Amount of lines: 64
  • Average number of symbols per line: 65 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; to, and, with, when, my, i, as, of, his are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word wall at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Kate Harrington