This is an analysis of the poem If You But Knew that begins with:
Ah, if you knew how soon and late
My eyes long for a sight of you,... full text
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: ababB cbcbB dbdbB
- Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,5,
- Closest metre: iambic trimeter
- Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
- Сlosest stanza type: tercets
- Guessed form: rondeau
- Metre: 10111111 11110101 01010111 11001101 0111 10111111 11110101 10110101 11110111 0111 10111111 11111111 11111011 11111111 0111
- Amount of stanzas: 3
- Average number of symbols per stanza: 158
- Average number of words per stanza: 34
- Amount of lines: 15
- Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
- Average number of words per line: 7
Mood of the speaker:
There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.
The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you, and are repeated.
The author used the same word ah at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.
The poet repeated the same word knew 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 If You But Knew;
- central theme;
- idea of the verse;
- history of its creation;
- critical appreciation.
Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!
Pay attention: the program cannot take into account all the numerous nuances of poetic technique while analyzing. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information.
