This is an analysis of the poem The River Of Ruin that begins with:

ALONG by the river of ruin
They dally — the thoughtless ones,...

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: abccbdbeebbbffbdXggeahiih
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 25,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 011010010 1100101 11111 101001 1110101 011110110 11001001 111011 001001 111011101 010110010 0111111 111011 111111 111101001 1100010010 01011110 101011 101001 101001011 110010010 11001101 11111 001001 001001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 782
  • Average number of words per stanza: 152
  • Amount of lines: 25
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; they, and are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar