This is an analysis of the poem Preface that begins with:

This book is not about heroes. English Poetry is not yet fit to speak
of them. Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour,... 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: XXXababcX dcXdXXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 9,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0101011010100011101 00100011111101011010 010110 011 0110101010100 0010001101001 010000010 1110011001010 0001110000 110001 10101101001 10101101010 01101000111 111110110010000110 101011100101101 0101101110
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 364
  • Average number of words per stanza: 70
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 45 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of Preface;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Wilfred Owen