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

Ellen, dear, it is clear
I have not half thy merits told;... 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: abXb Xcdc Xefa cghg fcic Xaia fgXg hifi gcbc ededXfcbc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 101001 11111101 101101 11011011 101111 00111101 111101 11110101 101111 01000100 10100110 1011101 01101010 11010001 111111 01111111 111101 01111111 101111 01110101 01111101 11110111 10101010 11101101 101111 101001001 11101010 11101101 101111 01110101 1110010100 01011101 11111111 11110101 00011111 10110111 11100110 11111111 11101110 11111101 111011 01001101 001101 111101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 11
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 127
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 44
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

  • summary of To My Wife;
  • 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