Only You Should Know by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Only You Should Know that begins with:

Only you should know,
How it goes......

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: ABBCb ADCA XXce ABBCb ADCA BCFCC BCFCC ABBCb AGEXAGE
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,4,4,5,4,5,5,5,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10111 101 1011 1011 1 10111 111 1010 101 10101010 110011 101000111 0010001 10111 101 1011 1011 1 10111 111 1010 101 10111100 111101 00100011 0101 001001100 10111100 111101 00100011 0101 001001100 10111 101 1011 1011 1 10111 11010 11001 10111 11010 11001
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 91
  • Average number of words per stanza: 18
  • Amount of lines: 43
  • Average number of symbols per line: 20 (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; to, you, it are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same words it, dismiss 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 Only You Should Know;
  • 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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