Testimonial by Rita Dove: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Testimonial that begins with:

Back when the earth was new
and heaven just a whisper,...

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: XXaX abXX caXX Xbaa bdcd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110111 1101010 110101 101101 1101010 10100010 11010100 100111 0111110 11010001 11111111 1011101010 11101110 1110111 1111110 1110111 111011101 111101 11110001 1011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 125
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word back 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 Testimonial;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Rita Dove

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