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

No, helpless thing, I cannot harm thee now;
Depart in peace, thy little life is safe,... 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: abcdeXfgXdhecifgXccgjkafXbjgfjkjjgkggihkXe
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 42,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101110111 0101110101 11111101001 1001011111 0101010101 11011100100 1101100111 1011001101 1111110001 0100010111 1011010100 01110100111 01010111011 1111100011 1100010111 01110110111 0101110101 1100110111 1011010001 1111000111 1101110101 0100010011 1101010111 01010101001 1011110100 1101000101 1101010111 1010011101 1101110101 01011000101 1101001101 0101010101 0101010101 1101111001 0101110111 01010000101 1011110101 1001010101 10110101010 1111110111 010001001110 11010001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1792
  • Average number of words per stanza: 308
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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; thy, i, and, of are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Caterpillar;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Anna Laetitia Barbauld