Nefarious War by Li Po: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Nefarious War that begins with:

Last year we fought by the head-stream of the Sang-kan,
This year we are fighting on the Tsung-ho road....

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: abXcXb defffeX XaffcdXff
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,7,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111110110011 01111010111 11111000100111 11100110111101 0111111101001 111011111 001001110110 101011101011 10111 10110010101010 10010011101010 01010111011 101101 0010111011011 01000101001001010 11011111010 10010111101010011 1111011100101 10100101010 1010011111 01101100110
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 260
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • Average number of symbols per line: 49 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; we, and are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Nefarious War;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Li Po

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