This is an analysis of the poem Human Life that begins with:

What mortal, when he saw,
Life's voyage done, his heavenly Friend,... 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: abXacX dccdcX XefXfe gfXgXf bhibih
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 110111 110101001 1101111100 11110001101 0101011101 0111111001 111111 1110001 0101010011 1111110111 0111111011 1111101100 111111 11011111 1011100101 10110100011 1111111101 1101111101 110101 01110101 1100010111 1101011101 11110100101 1101001101 1011101 110110110 1101010111 0110111101 01011111001 0110110001
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 234
  • Average number of words per stanza: 44
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 38 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of Human Life;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Matthew Arnold