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

MNEME begin. Inspire, ye sacred nine,
Your vent'rous Afric in her great design....

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: aabbccddeeddffffaaddggeehheeiiaahhaaaaeeXfeeddddaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 50,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 101011101 1101000101 1010111101 0111111101 0101010011 0100110111 1101010101 1101010101 101010101 0101000101 1001010101 1101110001 1001010001 00110010101 1001010001 0101010101 0101010101 1101010101 1100010101 1101110101 1101110101 10110001001 1011010101 0101011111 110110101 1101010101 1001110101 0101010111 1010110101 0011011111 1010110111 0101010101 10010011001 0101010101 0101010101 1111000111 1101000101 1101111101 0101011101 1101010011 01010101100 0101110101 0111010001 11100010101 1001110101 1101010111 11111110101 0101010011 1101100101 1011000101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 2159
  • Average number of words per stanza: 374
  • Amount of lines: 50
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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; her is repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Phillis Wheatley