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

Thou unrelenting Past!
Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain,... 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: abab bcbc dede fefe ghgh iaia eiei bdbd cXce iaia jcjc kaka ibibXegeg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 110101 11010011101 110111 1111011001 101101 11001010011 1100101 1101011011 110101 1111111001 111111 1011100111 111100 11110010001 100101 01000100101 110101 01111001001 110101 1101111101 011101 1101011101 100101 1101100101 011001 1011000101 110101 1101010001 100001 0101000101 111101 1100110101 1100101 101110001000 011101 0101110101 110111 1111110111 111111 1111110001 110011 11001101001 111101 0101010001 111101 1101010111 1100101 1100110101 111111 0101010101 011101 11010100011 111101 1111010111 101111 1011010011
  • Amount of stanzas: 14
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 140
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 56
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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; to, thy, and are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word in 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 The Past;
  • 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 Cullen Bryant