This is an analysis of the poem The Portrait that begins with:

I watch you, gazing at me from the wall,
And wonder how you'd match your dreams with mine,...

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: abab cdcd efeX eXeX dfdfXabab
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111011001 1101111101 01001010111 1101010101 1101110001 1111111101 1101110101 1101011101 1011110111 1111010111 1101110101 11101111100 1111011111 1100110011 1110010111 11010111010 1101011111 0100110001 1111010100 1111110001 1101011001 11001111101 01001010111 1101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 181
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 45 (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; your is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word ' at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of The Portrait;
  • 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