This is an analysis of the poem To My Brother James that begins with:

James, 'tis full time for me to write
Some rhymes to you in earnest quite.... 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: aabbbbaabbccddeefabbffgghh iiffiXiiggaaXe
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 26,14,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11111101 11010101 11011111 11000111 01110111 11110111 01010101 10011101 10010111 01001101 01101101 11110111 11010111 01111101 11110001 11110101 11111101 01011101111 01011111 01010111 11110101 10110101 11000111 11110011 11010101 11010111 11011101 01011111 11011111 11111111 10011111 10011111 10010101 11110101 11010111 11000111 11110111 11111111 11001100 01110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 696
  • Average number of words per stanza: 140
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of To My Brother James;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Thomas Cowherd