This is an analysis of the poem Arabic that begins with:

The man with laughing eyes stopped smiling
to say, "Until you speak Arabic,...

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: aXX bbc deXbf abX dcX aXa adf fbbXe bdbXddc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,5,3,3,3,3,5,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 010101110 0110011100 10110110 1001001001 1101010001001 1101010101 10101111101 10110110101 1001 0101101011 0010 011001010 110111011010 10111100 110111001 00111101 111111111 11111111001 110101011011 101101010010 011011010 101010111 011101 1110100101111 0100101101 1101 1111011010 10 0011101101 10111100101 111110101 100111100011 10101101101 01001011001
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 137
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 34
  • 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.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Naomi Shihab Nye