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

When my older brother
came back from war ...

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: abbbc deXf gfdX Xed hhdij jXfi fichkf jg ffff aediek Xckfce
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,4,4,3,5,4,6,2,4,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111010 1101 111010010101 11001 101 010010 11110 10111 1010001 11011 010100 111101 0100100 01101 101001101 10100100 110 1010101 110111 111001 101000111 1111 1010110 0101010 1110000100 00100101 100110 101001 101 0011 1001 10111 11 110 11001 00111010 00110100 11110 1101101 1011001 111010 1111010 11101011 11010001 110101 01001 1011 011001
  • Amount of stanzas: 11
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 104
  • Average number of words per stanza: 20
  • Amount of lines: 58
  • Average number of symbols per line: 19 (very short strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 4
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines star is repeated).

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Zbigniew Herbert