This is an analysis of the poem Who Knows How Mother Plays that begins with:

Perchance a prophet thou-
Who knows? Who dares touch...

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: aXbccbdXXXaXXeffdegXXXgX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 24,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 010101 11111 011101 010101 010111 010101 010111 100110 010110 011001 111101 111111 010101 111111 111111 010101 111101 110100 1101010 101001 011101 110101 1100010 010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 671
  • Average number of words per stanza: 113
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • 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 speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Who Knows How Mother Plays;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Swami Vivekananda