This is an analysis of the poem The Elephant Is Slow To Mate that begins with:

The elephant, the huge old beast,
is slow to mate;... 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: aaaa bbcc dede bfaf babX gege
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01000111 0101 110111111 11 1010001111 101001 1110010101 1111 11010101 010001 110101011 0100101 1100111001 110010 1011101011 10110 1011101001 11111 1011010001 10110 11111111 1101 11011111 11101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 119
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; and, they are repeated.

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

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of The Elephant Is Slow To Mate;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by David Herbert Lawrence