This is an analysis of the poem What We All Think that begins with:

THAT age was older once than now,
In spite of locks untimely shed,... 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: abab acac bdbd efef dXdX bgbg cbcb egeX haha bibi
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11110111 01010101 110010101 11111101 111101001 11001111 11010101 11000101 11010111 01010111 01110111 11010011 11101101 11111101 10110100 11011101 100110111 11010001 11010101 110101010 11110101 11110101 11010111 11110101 111110101 010100101 1100100111 11110111 11110101 11010011 11011111 111111010 11010101 100010101 11010111 11010111 11010111 11011101 11011101 11110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 142
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • 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; with, that, our are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word that at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of What We All Think;
  • 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