On A Voluntary Basis by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem On A Voluntary Basis that begins with:

Oh...
I can get dark and thick with it....

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: abcd DD aaea DD acfXf dgeXfbegbf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,2,4,2,5,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1 11111100 11111 111 110101111 1110101011101 1 11010100110111 1101111101 111101 110101111 1110101011101 1 110101101 11111 010111110110 0010010101 1110110111 1010101111111 10100111101 01101 111101010 1010 01101 01110100010 0111 1111110
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 141
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 27
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • 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; i, you are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of On A Voluntary Basis;
  • 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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