This is an analysis of the poem The Way To Know A Father that begins with:

No man knows his father till he sees
His father in the son upon his knees;...

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: aabb ccdd eeaa ddff gghh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 111010111 0100010101 0111010101 0100011101 11010101011 0101001111 0101011101 10110010001 101101100 01110101 0101010001 0101010011 1101010101 11010101101 1101010101 1101010111 0111111101 1101010111 11010111111 11111110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 158
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 39 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; his, father are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word what 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 Way To Know A Father;
  • 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 Peter Tristram Coffin