This is an analysis of the poem A Broken Friendship that begins with:

Alas! they had been friends in youth;
But whispering tongues can poison truth;... 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: aabcbccXcdcdeedcdXc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 19,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01110101 110011101 110010101 110101101 10010111 11110001 110101101 0101110 1110101 101001110 11010101 110101010 010101010 110101010 111101010 01011101 110111110 11010111 01011110
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 692
  • Average number of words per stanza: 125
  • Amount of lines: 19
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and 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 A Broken Friendship;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge