Dedicate Your Life by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Dedicate Your Life that begins with:

You...
Still carry your bruises....

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: aBCADD ADeFAD GAHB GAHB aBCADD ADeFAD GAHBXhB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,4,4,6,6,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1 110110 111111 111 01 11001 11 1011010 10 0101 11 111 1101101 101011101 111110111 00110111 1101101 101011101 111110111 00110111 1 110110 111111 111 01 11001 11 1011010 10 0101 11 111 1101101 101011101 111110111 00110111 111110111 00110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 111
  • Average number of words per stanza: 20
  • Amount of lines: 38
  • Average number of symbols per line: 22 (very short strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 4

  • Mood of the speaker:

    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; you is repeated.

    The author used the same word just at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word choose 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 Dedicate Your 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 Lawrence S. Pertillar

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