This is an analysis of the poem Shadows From Life that begins with:

Vain the love that looketh upward; we may worship, may adore;
From the heart's o'erflowing chalice all the tide of feeling pour; ... 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: aabbccddXXXbcceeff ddddgggg cc ggaadd Xfggggcc bbhXXX bb ccddiiaa jjggkkjX gg ddhhll iiiimXff cckk XabX nnXfiihX bbeekk ll ooXXnnaa hhccjjaa Xmmbbddjj
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 18,8,2,6,8,6,2,8,8,2,6,8,4,4,8,6,2,8,8,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 101110101110101 0011000101010101 1110101001011001 100111001011101 101011101110101 0010101010100111 101010101010101 101110101110101 11 1 10111010101010 101111101010101 101000101010001 1000110001010101 101011101010111 10010100100011101 111010100010101 101110101010101 101110101110101 101010101110101 101010101010101 111010100010111 111110110010101 1010101000101001 101110010010101 101011100010101 11111010111111 0010010101011111 1011110011101001 101010101010011 111011001010101 101011100110001 101110101010101 111001000110101 11010101111010 01101110101110101 101010100011101 101010101010101 110101001110011 0111000101011101 111011101010111 011100101110101 111110100110011 11011011000100001 101010101110101 101000101010101 111111101110101 1001011101011100 101010111010001 101110101111101 101110101010101 101010001110001 1110001000101001 1110111000100101 11100110101000101 10101100110101 10101010101001 1001010101110001 111010101111101 10110101010101 001000100010001 001000101010001 10100100101010101 101010100010101 111010101010101 101010100010100 111011101111111 1010101111010001 111010101011101 101010101110001 1001010101010101 1010010111111111 111111111011101 111010100010111 111111011101010 1011111001101010 11010110010101010 1010110010101110 111111101010111 1111111101111111 11101110001101 101011000111101 100101000101111 011111101110101 101011101010011 111000100010111 11100101010101010 101110101010101 101001100011111 10111010101101100 111010101111101 1110000110111101 10101111011101111 10111010111101 111111001010011 111110101111111 111110101010101 1110101010111 111110101010101 101010101010101 1010101010100001 1010010111010111 1110111010010011 101010101111101 1011110101011001 101010101110111 10010101010101010 1110011011111010 101010101110111 1110101010111011 110101101100101 101011000011100 011010101110111 101011100111101 101010100111101 101011001110001 101010101111101 111010101011101 110111011111001 10101111011101 1011010101010101 101110101110101 111011101011111 101111000011101 1110101010100111 1110111001011101 011111101110111 011011101010101 110101010111111 11110101111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 20
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 411
  • Average number of words per stanza: 74
  • Amount of lines: 131
  • Average number of symbols per line: 62 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, to, her, as, of, he, you, him, on, my are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Shadows From Life;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lady Jane Wilde