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

Oh! weep those days, the penal days,
When Ireland hopelessly complained....

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: AbAbccdeedaa fgfgccXhhXaa ghghbbibbiaa aiXiffjeejaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,12,12,12,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11110101 110010001 11110101 11010101 1111 1111 11000111 1101 1101 01011101 11111101 1100111001 11011101 010111010 11010101 010101110 0101 1101 01010101 1101 1101 11011101 11101101 11010101 010101110 010010100 110111010 01011101 0101 0101 11010100 0101 0101 011000100 11001101 01010101 11111101 11110011 11111101 11010101 1101 1111 11011101 1111 1101 11110101 11110111 010001101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 353
  • Average number of words per stanza: 63
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (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; days, and are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words when, forbid, for are repeated.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines days is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word days 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 Penal Days;
  • 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 Davis