This is an analysis of the poem The Death-Bed that begins with:

He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;...

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: abacde eaafdabga fhbfgb Xgbiij gdbjaf fhajXXaacb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,9,6,6,6,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 11011010101 1101010111 10011010101 10110000101 1011010101 1101010101 1111010001 1101000111 1101010101 01001111101 1011010101 1001110101 11110001010 1101010101 1101011111 1001011001 10010001001 1111111101 10010101001 1101010101 1011000101 1111010101 101100101011 111101010010 1101101111 0101010101 1011010101 1110010101 1101011111 0101010111 1111011111 10001110111 1111011111 1101110101 1111111001 1011111111 1111011111 1101010111 1101111111 1111000101 1011010101 1101010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 270
  • Average number of words per stanza: 47
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (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, and, him, he are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Death-Bed;
  • 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