This is an analysis of the poem A Portrait that begins with:

Tell me, ye prim adepts in Scandal’s school,
Who rail by precept, and detract by rule,... 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: aabbccddeeffgghhaaiijjkXllaakkiimmbbeeccccgXbbmmhhbbccmmnnggiiiinnggXmiicccmggiiiiddccaaiillggnnbbeebbiicchhXhhhjjccbbjjdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 122,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1111100101 1111110111 1111001111 1101110111 1101010101 0111011101 0101010111 1001001101 1101000101 1101000111 0111010111 1101000101 1101110101 0101000111 1101011101 0101010001 0111010101 0101100101 11001001001 0111010101 0111111111 01010001001 1111110100 1111111100 1101001111 01001011101 1111110111 0101011101 0101110101 0011011101 11110100101 0011011101 1111010101 0101000111 1011000101 1101010111 1111110101 01011100100 1101111101 1101010101 1001011101 11010101001 1101001101 11100101100 11111000101 1111111101 0101010011 1001110100 0101000101 1101011001 1111001101 1111011111 0101100101 0101011101 01010010001 1111001111 1011010101 111100001011 0101001101 1111010101 1101011001 1001000101 1101000111 1001111111 1101010101 1101010101 1111011111 1101010111 1011111110 0101111111 1011010101 1101011101 1111010101 0110000001 10001110101 0101110101 1111110101 1100010101 11011101001 1111011101 1111010101 0101010101 1101011101 0101010101 1111110101 1101010001 1101100101 0111110101 0101001101 1100001101 1101000101 1111010101 1101000101 1101111101 1011010111 1101011101 10011100001 1100010101 0101011111 1001011001 1111110101 0101110101 1011110101 0101010111 1011110101 1101011111 1101010101 1101011101 0111110101 0111011101 0101011101 1101011101 1101111101 1101110101 1001011111 110101110101 11010101001 1101011101 1111010101 1001011111 1101010111 1110011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 5357
  • Average number of words per stanza: 962
  • Amount of lines: 122
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; so, or, s, no, of, her, too, to, thy are repeated.

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase you connects the lines.

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

  • summary of A Portrait;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Richard Brinsley Sheridan