This is an analysis of the poem The Ships Of Yule that begins with:

When I was just a little boy,
Before I went to school,... 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: abbbcXdedafa bghg XfXf Xhdh eeee ffhfXcbab
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11110101 011101 11010101 110101 010010101 110100 01010101 0100101 11011101 010111 11110111 111101 111100101 010101 01010101 110111 01001100 100101 11111101 110101 01110100 110101 11010100 010001 01010101 110001 11010010 010101 01010101 110101 11110101 111111 11010111 110101 11110101 010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 145
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (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; i, on, to, and, from are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word with 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 Ships Of Yule;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Bliss William Carman