This is an analysis of the poem Ancient History that begins with:

Adam, a brown old vulture in the rain,
Shivered below his wind-whipped olive-trees;...

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: abbaacac dedeff
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: sonnet with iambic pentameter or irregular meter
  • Metre: 1001110001 1001011101 10011111101 11110001001 1101000111 0101000111110 1101010001 10110101010 1011010111 0100010001 1101010011 0101110101 1111011101 0111110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 309
  • Average number of words per stanza: 57
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; of is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Ancient History;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Siegfried Sassoon