This is an analysis of the poem On The Life Of Man that begins with:

What is our life? a play of passion;
Our mirth the musick of division:... 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: aaXXXXXa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101101010 110100010 11010010101 11111101100 01011001000 110111110 1111100101 11110010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 341
  • Average number of words per stanza: 62
  • Amount of lines: 8
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; our is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of On The Life Of Man;
  • 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 Strode