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

In the days when every seaport had its figureheads to show -
Queens, princesses, sea-nymphs, witches, girls of all sorts, row on row,...

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: aabb ccdd eeee ffbX ffXX ggdd cchh bbdd ffXe bbii jjbX Xbdd ddii bbfX ffbb cXaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 00111001110100001 110011101011111 011010101101101 101010101110111 111010101011111 111011101011111 1010110101011101 01010110111111 101011111010101 11010101110101 111010101010111 101110111010101 111011101111101 111100111111111 10110111110101 010101000101010 01000100010111 01011101111101 11010101111100 111111101010101 101010101110101 01010100110111 111011100011111 1111111100010001 11010101110101 01010101010101 00101010001111 101011101011101 11110101111101 001010101110101 01010101010101 111011111110101 111101100111010 111101010111010 11111101111111 11110101111001 111011101011101 001010110010001 11101110100111001 111110101010101 11010111110101 111011111111111 1111101011111010 11110101110111 110101010101010 11011101010101 101111111010101 001000111010001 11111110110011 11011101011111 101010101111111 111010011010111 111110101010101 00111101010100 11110101111101 010101000101001 101010101110010 01110101111101 1110110100110111 111010101110101 101010101110101 001010111010010 10100100010111 1110111010100011
  • Amount of stanzas: 16
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 246
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 64
  • Average number of symbols per line: 61 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, he, to, of, looked, him, they are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word and is 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 The Figurehead;
  • 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