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

I used to sing, when I was young,
The joy of idleness;...

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: ababcdcd efefgXgg fXfXhXhXXgegefcfc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,17,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11011111 010100 11011111 110101 01111101 110101 11110101 000101 11010011 11101 01010101 110101 11010110 010101 11000101 110101 011111001 101100 11001111 1111010 11110101 111001 11111111 0101100 11111101 111101 11011101 111001 11010101 111101 11011101 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 239
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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 and is repeated.

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

  • summary of Retired;
  • 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 William Service