This is an analysis of the poem A Lover's Confession that begins with:

When people tell me they have loved
But once in youth,... 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 cdcd efef gcXc hfhf ihih jaja hihi gkgk lhlh mkmk clcl nono jhXh mhmh hkhkXlklk
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011111 1101 11011111 0101 11110001 11010 01001111 01110 11000111 1111 10011011 1101 11011101 1101 01111100 1101 11111101 0101 11010101 0101 10010111 0111 11111111 0111 01100111 1101 11110001 1111 11110101 11010 11110101 01110 01110111 10110 11010101 11010 11111111 1101 11110101 1101 01111111 110010 01010101 10010 01110011 0101 11010001 1011 10111101 0101 11110101 1111 11010101 0101 110101110 1111 11111011 11110 10011101 01110 00011101 01110 01011111 11110 11011101 01110 01111101 11010
  • Amount of stanzas: 17
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 108
  • Average number of words per stanza: 20
  • Amount of lines: 68
  • Average number of symbols per line: 26 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; they, and are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word until 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 A Lover's Confession;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Robert Fuller Murray