This is an analysis of the poem At Dusk that begins with:

Be still, she sleeps. Yea, there is stillness here:
No voices come to rouse the dreamless dead,...

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: ababbcC dadaaee ededdff gagaaff bhbhhee bibiidd gjgjjkk ghghhdd dkdkkaX gagaaee ldlddee ejejjXXXdkdkkcC
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,15,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0111110101 1101010101 11110001001 1101111101 10010101101 11011101001 0111 0111011011 1011111101 110101011001 0111111101 1101101101 1101010111 1111 10110011001 1111110111 0101101101 1001010101 01010111101 1101110111 1101 1111111111 1001010101 01000100110 1011000101 10011001001 0101010101 01001 01010101001 1010010111 1101010111 1101010101 0111111111 1111010111 1011 0111111111 0111110111 1111010111 1101110111 10111100111 1101110111 1101 1101111101 1011111111 11010011011 1011110101 0100111101 1111010101 0111 1111100101 11110000111 1011010000 1011010101 100100101001 1011010001 0101 0111011101 01110110111 1101110101 1101010111 1001001111 0101010101 1110 1111111111 1111110101 1011110101 1101110111 10011100101 1011111111 1101 1101010101 0111010101 01001011001 1001110101 01010010111 1011010101 1001 01110111101 1111010111 1111111111 11010001001 1001010101 1101011000 0111 0111111111 1101110101 11100010111 0001010101 0101011100 01011111111 0111
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 284
  • Average number of words per stanza: 52
  • Amount of lines: 91
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (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; no, be, still, and, rest, some, of, thine, thou, they are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words no, be, the, and, thee, thine, one are repeated.

    The author used the same words be, thou at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word life at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase ours connects the lines.

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

  • summary of At Dusk;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Maurice Browne