Ability To Listen by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Ability To Listen that begins with:

As relevant to teaching...
Is one's ability to listen! ...

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: Xaba babb XcXdbeb ecXaeXcdcbc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,7,11,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1100010 010100010 011001010 11011010 10100101 00110 10111101 10101010 111001 01001 10010101 10111 0101001 10001 1111 11011 01110111 11101010 0010001010 1100101001 0010001010 11001101010 00100001 0001101 010111011
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 149
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 25
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5

  • 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.

    There are many three dots in the poem. Readers should think of the author's idea together with the pensive speaker.

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

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

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

  • summary of Ability To Listen;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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