This is an analysis of the poem Lieutenant Shellback R.N.R. that begins with:

He has learnt the ways of the ships at sea
In most of the sorts of ships there be, -...

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: aabbXXX cc ddee eXbbffgg hhaa cciijjii ffbb hhiijjii jjii ffhhggkkeeff
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,2,4,8,4,8,4,8,4,12,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1110100111 010010110 010010101 111001111 0101110101 1110111110 1 0101001010 111010010110 110001110001 0011111011 0101001010 101010101 1110100111 11101111 11101111 00100100101 1110100111 111101101 011100101 1011010100 1100010111 010100101 011101001 101010111 1111011110 1111001010 1011110101 111111011 01111111 111110011 010101111 110101101 1110111111 11101011 010100101 101010101 111011101 101010101 0011100111 11011101 1110111101 1110111101 10111111 1011011101 1100011101 0101001001 1010011101 101010111 11111111 101101111 11100101 10011101 1011110101 011110111 1101110110110 110010110110 101110111 1100100111 10001111101 10101001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 278
  • Average number of words per stanza: 54
  • Amount of lines: 62
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; of, and, as, or, learnt, it, has, he, whether are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word and 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 Lieutenant Shellback R.N.R.;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Cicely Fox Smith