This is an analysis of the poem Villion's Ballade Of Good Counsel, To His Friends Of Evil Life that begins with:

Nay, be you pardoner or cheat,
Or cogger keen, or mumper shy,... 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: ababbcdX aXadbcbX ababdcbX d XcbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,1,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 10110011 11011101 11110101 11110111 11011101 111111010 11111100 110101010 11110101 01111100 11010111 01010100 11111101 111111010 11111111 110101010 11011101 11110111 11111111 01110101 11010100 111011110 11111111 110101010 10 11111100 110101010 11111111 110101010
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 206
  • Average number of words per stanza: 38
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; or, and, your are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word your is repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word lasses 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 Villion's Ballade Of Good Counsel, To His Friends Of Evil Life;
  • 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