Ballade Of Old Plays by Andrew Lang: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Ballade Of Old Plays that begins with:

LA COUR.
When these Old Plays were new, the King,... 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: a babaacaC X babaXcaC X babaaXaC XXacaC
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,8,1,8,1,8,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11 11110101 0101001 01010101 010001 11110101 110101 11011111 111101 110 11010111 110101 11110111 110101 01010100 100101 11010101 111101 11 11110111 010101 11111111 110101 10010101 010110 11000101 111101 10 11110111 011101 11101101 111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 119
  • Average number of words per stanza: 22
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5

  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

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

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

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

  • summary of Ballade Of Old Plays;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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