The Barren Music Of A Word Or Phrase, by Christopher Morley: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem The Barren Music Of A Word Or Phrase, that begins with:

THE barren music of a word or phrase,
The futile arts of syllable and stress, ...

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: abab acac dede
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0101000111 0101010011 1101000101 1011 0101010101 1001110101 0101110111 1111 0101010101 0101011111 1111010001 1001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 142
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 13
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (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 the, he are repeated.

    The author used the same word the 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 Barren Music Of A Word Or Phrase,;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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