This is an analysis of the poem Sir Lancelot Du Lake that begins with:

When Arthur first in court began,
And was approvèd king,... 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 cdcd XeXe fdgX dXXe hiei jXXX dceX Xaga khlX hlbl fXeX Xmem edXX XXXX jXgl amgm cheh eaXa ihdh Xjej eleX jXkX fieX XfhX Xjgj flhX jXab hhXh XalcXjaia
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010101 11101 110111001 110101 10010111 0100110 11010101 1000110 11011100 1000101 01110110 110101 11110101 11101 110111001 110010 11110101 011111 11111110 0101001 1110101 110101 11100101 1001101 10111011001 101111100 101011101110 1101110 100010111 110011 11111111 11101100 10101010100 1110111 110011101 110101 101010101 111101 10110110 1001010 11100101 110001 10010101 110101 11110101 110111 11010111 100111 101011110 10111110 11111111 1111010 101110111 1111110 11011110 01001100 1010001010 11010 101111101 1100100 10101011001 10011110 111101011 111101 111101101 1111010 11011011 10011010 11011100 010101 0101101111 110101 11001111 111111 0101110 110101 11001111 111101 110111001 1101011 10101111100 101011011 1010110111 110101 101011101 111011 10010101 1101010 10011011001 1010101 11011101 1110100 101010101 111101 11010101 11111100 101111110 1110101 11010101 111010 10101011110 10101101 100111111 011111 101010101 110111 10111001 111110 11010101 11011010 10111111 1101010 01100101 100101 11111100 110101 01110110 110111 11110101 110101 11110101 111111 01010111 010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 31
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 134
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 124
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; and, he, i, to, their, thou are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words and, they, he are repeated.

    The author used the same words they, and at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Sir Lancelot Du Lake;
  • 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 Percy