This is an analysis of the poem A Dead March that begins with:

PLAY me a march, low-ton’d and slow—a march for a silent tread,
Fit for the wandering feet of one who dreams of the silent dead, ... 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: aaa Xbb ccc ddd aaa ddd eeX fff Xdd ggg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110111110110101 1101001011100101 1001010110111101 110111110100100 100101011010101 111101011101111 110111111110111 100100111111111 1101111111000111 100101011100101 111101011100111 1111010111110111 111101101101001 100111010011111 1001011110111101 11110111111101 101101111101111 100101011100101 111101110010101 100101111100111 1001001011111111 111101111011111 1000101111100101 1101111100110101 111101111100111 1001010110100101 1101111011111111 1101101011101111 11011110110101011 11010100101101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 202
  • Average number of words per stanza: 41
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 67 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 14
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, for, us, they, we, which, with, to, of, that, as, but are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words here, ah are repeated.

    The author used the same word no 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 A Dead March;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by William Cosmo Monkhouse