On Death by Percy Bysshe Shelley: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem On Death that begins with:

The pale, the cold, and the moony smile
Which the meteor beam of a starless night... 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: ababcc adadde fafade gdgdhh ijijdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 010110101 10100100101 110101111 1010010101 0010111011 1111111101 1111101001 1010101101 10100110111 1100100101 111101111 001010100 010010111 0100100111 10100100101 001100001101 111111111 111101100 010100111 111011100 1011110101 1100101101 110111101 0010100101 1100101001 1100101001 1100111101 0110100101 1100010110 00110111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 251
  • Average number of words per stanza: 50
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • 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, who are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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