This is an analysis of the poem Ballade Of The Dead Cities that begins with:

The dust of Carthage and the dust
Of Babel on the desert 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: ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbX XXacaC
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01010101 01010101 01010101 10000101 01010101 11010001 11110111 11010011 01100101 01010101 01010001 01010001 101110001 11010111 11100001 11010011 01010101 010010101 01010101 0111001 01101111 01010101 11000101 110100110 10 11111101 01111111 11111111 11010011
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 197
  • Average number of words per stanza: 36
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; of, and are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word time at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Ballade Of The Dead Cities;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Andrew Lang