This is an analysis of the poem The Old Shellback that begins with:
By Murphy’s Hotel as I loitered along
I heard an old shellback a-singing his song,...
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 cccc ddbb eeff ddff Xecc
- Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
- Closest metre: iambic pentameter
- Сlosest rhyme: couplets
- Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
- Guessed form: heroic couplets
- Metre: 110011110001 11111001001 01011001011 001111011011 01011001101 01101011101 001001011001 101001101001 11101011111 11101101011 101001111001 01001001001 11111101100 101001111011 01001001001 1111011101 1111111111 1111001101 1001011011 001001101001 1101101111 1101001001 001011101011 101011001011
- Amount of stanzas: 6
- Average number of symbols per stanza: 193
- Average number of words per stanza: 38
- Amount of lines: 24
- Average number of symbols per line: 48 (strings are more long than medium ones)
- Average number of words per line: 10
Mood of the speaker:
The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.
The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; of, to, and, that are repeated.
If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:
- summary of The Old Shellback;
- central theme;
- idea of the verse;
- history of its creation;
- critical appreciation.
Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!
Pay attention: the program cannot take into account all the numerous nuances of poetic technique while analyzing. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information.
