This is an analysis of the poem On Beauty. A Riddle that begins with:

Resolve Me, Cloe, what is This:
Or forfeit me One precious Kiss.... 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: aabbXcddddbbeeaaccddffgghhbXggccbb cciijjbbggeebb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 34,14,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0111100 11011101 1011010010 110101010 010111010 11010101 11011101 01010011 11011001 10011101 01010101 11110111 100101001 11011101 010110011 11110001 01011101 11110001 10110101 01010001 01111010 010100110 10100101 01111101 10010101 01010101 10010001 100101100 01110101 10011101 10110001 11010101 10011101 11011101 1101111 11001101 11011011 11010101 10111011 100011111 01010101 110111001 10110001 01011101 11011101 11110101 011101110 010111010
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 863
  • Average number of words per stanza: 150
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of On Beauty. A Riddle;
  • 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 Prior