This is an analysis of the poem The Belfry that begins with:

Dark is the stair, and humid the old walls
Wherein it winds, on worn stones, up the tower.... 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 eded fdfd gege hihi haha cfcf afaf fjfj
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1001110011 01011111010 1011111100 10011001010 1101010111 0111011101 0111011101 0011011111 1011110101 11110100101 1001111101 11011100101 1100110101 01001011111 1001010101 1101011101 1100011111 1101100101 01001010110 1111010101 0110110111 1111010101 0101110101 1011000101 1111110101 1100011101 0110110101 1101010101 11010010101 010010010101 10010010101 11010010101 1101010101 1111110111 1110010111 0101110101 11011110011 110010101101 1101110101 1111110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 185
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 46 (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; they, like are repeated.

    The author used the same word how 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 The Belfry;
  • 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 Laurence Binyon