This is an analysis of the poem The Philosopher To His Love that begins with:

DEAREST, a look is but a ray
Reflected in a certain way;... 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: aabbcc ddddee ffXbaa eeddaa ggaacc ggcXcc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10010101 01000101 01110101 010100101 010100001 010101001 010101111 010010111 01110111 10110101 0111011001 010010111 100101111 11111101 110111010 01111111 11110010 11110101 11111111 11011101 11011111 11000101 11011100 11000101 11011101 10010101 11111101 11010101 11110101 01111101 01110101 11111011 01111101 11110101 11111101 01011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 213
  • Average number of words per stanza: 40
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; and is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Philosopher To His Love;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes