This is an analysis of the poem The Power Of Prayer that begins with:

or, The First Steamboat up the Alabama.
You, Dinah! Come and set me whar de ribber-roads does meet.... 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: X aaa bbb XXX ccc ccc XXX ddd eXe fff ddd Xgg hhh bbb fXf XXi jjj ccc fff iii XXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 10111101010 11011111010111 01111111010001 11011101111101 01011101110111 11111101110101 11011111110001 11110001110111 11110111011001 101111101010111 11111011110111 11111001110111 01111101101101 11110101110101 11010100110101 11110101010101 11110101010111 11010101101101110 01110111011111 11110101110101 11010111010101 110010101110101 01110101111111 01010111110110 01010101011101 11010110000111101 0101110101111 11110101010101 110010111011011 11111001110101 11111111110101 110101011101010 110101010101001 111100101011001001 11010101011101 01001111110111 11111101110111 110111110111110 111111011111110 1101111011110010 11011111110101 0111000111100 111100101110111 1111101110110 11011101111111 11011100011101 11110101110101 11011101011111 10010010111111 11110101011101 111101111010101 11111111111001 11010100011111 01010100111111 1111111111101 11011101111101 11110101011101 1111011011001 11110111110101 11110101011101 11011101110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 21
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 177
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 61
  • Average number of symbols per line: 60 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; de, i, comin', gwine, and, gone, you, to, dat are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Power Of Prayer;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Sidney Lanier