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

Go, soul, the body's guest,
Upon a thankless errand;... 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: abaacc dbdbcc efefcc fafacC agagcC fafacc XdXdcc dhXXcc hfhfcc hcXccC hXXgcc iXiXcc cXcgjj
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110101 0101010 110101 0110110 111111 110101 100101 111101 100101 101110 011101 110101 110111 1011010 110111 1111010 010101 110101 1101010 110001 1100010 110101 101101 110101 101101 1111110 101101 1101010 101101 110101 1101010 110011 1100110 110011 110101 111101 1101010 1101010 1101110 1101010 111101 1100101 1111010 0101010 1101100 01010000 111101 110101 1100010 1100010 1100010 1100010 111101 110101 1100010 110001 1100100 110001 101001 110101 1111110 1101100 1111100 1111110 011101 111101 1101010 1101010 1111110 1101100 101101 110101 111111 0101110 110101 0111110 111110 110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 165
  • Average number of words per stanza: 31
  • Amount of lines: 78
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; tell, it, how are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words not, their, tell, and are repeated.

    The author used the same word tell at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word lie 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 Lie;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Sir Walter Raleigh