This is an analysis of the poem A Meditation that begins with:

How often in the years that close,
When truce had stilled the sieging gun,...

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: ababcc daeadd fgdghh bidihebe bbibjiX efdfdd eiXXkk lblXbaa fibXejX dcXclfjf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,8,7,6,6,7,7,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11000011 11110101 01010111 0100100111 0101010101 11111110001 11010101 11010001 100011101 11000101 0101010101 11010100101 11010101 01010111 01010101 11110101 1101110101 1011010101 011111011 11010101 11001101 111001 11110101 01 11111101 11 11000111 01000011 01110101 10110111 0101111010 1 11010101110 01010111 11010111 11010101 11110101 1101100101 11010100101 11111101 01010111 11011111 11001100 1111110111 0101110101 10110111 01000101 1101001010 1 01111101 11010101101 11011100001 01011011 010100101 01110101 11100110 1101011100 110111110 10 11111101 10010101 111111010 11110101 110110101 11 10010110010 1
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 235
  • Average number of words per stanza: 43
  • Amount of lines: 67
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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, of, in are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of A Meditation;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Meer Taqi Meer