This is an analysis of the poem If I Had Not Knocked that begins with:

You did not know when I came to knock.
I came to give and not to take....

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: aAbccdd DEB XdeAXXDEB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,3,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101111101 11011101 1101 101 011110001011 1111111 01111 01111 110 1111 110101111 1011110 1111101001 11011101 1110110101111 01111 110 1111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 122
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 18
  • Average number of symbols per line: 26 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; to, came, i, if, not, and are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines knocked is repeated).

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

  • summary of If I Had Not Knocked;
  • 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