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

Ernest was an elephant, a great big fellow,
Leonard was a lion with a six foot tail,...

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 cdcd ebeb XdXd fbfb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101110001110 10101000111 1101101110 11101011 10101101111 10101010101 110111101011 1111101 101010011010 10101011001 1101001010 11111111 1010100111010 10101011001 111010001110 11101001 10111001101010 10101000111 11011111110 1111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 173
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; and is repeated.

    The author used the same word earnest 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 Four Friends;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Alan Alexander Milne