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

Who draws to-day the unrighteous sword?
Behold him stand, the Man Forsworn,... 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: ababcc dedeff ghghii afafbb jkjkee ldldaa mmmmaa mmmmXb dbdbmm bdbdgg alalff ememmmXmmmmaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,13,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 110101001 01110111 010000101 010101001 110010111 111000001 10110101 11010101 01010101 10110101 11111111 01011101 11010111 11110001 00111101 11010101 10010111 11111101 11111101 10011111 10011001 11110101 11011101 01111101 11010111 11111111 11001111 101000111 10110111 01010101 10110101 11111111 10011101 11010101 10111011 11111111 11111101 01011101 110111010 01000101 11010101 11010111 01011001 11000101 110001001 11110111 010101110 11111101 11010101 011100101 11010101 010010101 11011101 10110011 11101001 11001101 11011011 01010101 11011101 01010111 11110001 11100001 01010111 11010101 01010101 11111101 10011101 1000111 10010111 01000101 11110101 10110101 101100111 11010111 110111001 11111001 11111111 11010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 211
  • Average number of words per stanza: 40
  • Amount of lines: 78
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, for, him, your are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Man Forsworn;
  • 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 Watson