This is an analysis of the poem The Strong Heroic Line that begins with:

FRIENDS of the Muse, to you of right belong
The first staid footsteps of my square-toed song;... 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: aabbbbccddeeffgghhiibbbbeejj XdXXkkcCCdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 28,11,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1001010101 0111101111 1111010101 1101011101 1111110011 1011011111 10111010101 01110100001 0101010101 11010100101 10101000111 0101010101 1101010101 01010100101 1101110111 1011111101 110100001001 0111000101 0101010101 0101110001 0101010101 1011010101 1101010101 1011011101 1111010101 1101010110 1101010101 0101010101 10010101100 1001010101 1011000100 1011010100 1111000111 0101000111 0101010101 1101111101 1101111101 1011010101 1101011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 871
  • Average number of words per stanza: 161
  • Amount of lines: 39
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words it, he are repeated.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines hat is repeated).

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

  • summary of The Strong Heroic Line;
  • 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