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

Once in the wind of morning
I ranged the thymy wold; ... 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: abcb dbbb aece cdbd cbcb efef ghah gbhb bbaX ebbb ehch Xbeb cbXb hbgbXcbeb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1001010 110101 0111110 110111 1101011 010111 0101110 110101 0101010 110101 1101110 111001 1111110 111111 1111110 111101 1011110 110101 1111010 111101 01010010 110101 1101010 100101 1101110 111101 11001110 110101 0101010 1110001 1111010 111101 1101011 010101 1111110 010101 1101010 110101 1011110 010101 1101011 010101 1111110 111101 0011110 110101 1001010 110101 101010110 010101 0101110 1000101 11010010 011101 1101011 100101 0111010 110101 1111110 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 15
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 114
  • Average number of words per stanza: 20
  • Amount of lines: 60
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • 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 poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word and is repeated.

    The author used the same word by 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 Merry Guide;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Alfred Edward Housman