Tough Love by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Tough Love that begins with:

You're stuck in thickened muck,
And you want to give up....

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: aXbc adecb dfc XffbGXeegGG
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,5,3,11,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110101 111011 01110 0010 111111 101001 1 11110 10101 1101 010111 110100110 1 1101 1110101 101101110 11 1111 10100 111 11 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 95
  • Average number of words per stanza: 17
  • Amount of lines: 22
  • Average number of symbols per line: 21 (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 poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word tough is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word love 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 Tough Love;
  • 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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