This is an analysis of the poem Ma And Her Checkbook that begins with:

Ma has a dandy little book that's full of narrow
slips,...

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: XabacbdbbeaefgXX XdXddegehdXdhgXX gadacgXggacaXgfX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 16,16,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1101010111010 1 11110101010 011 11100101011 101 11101101010 101 1110101011 10101 1101110111 0101 11110101111 101 110011011 10110 11010101011 101 0101010101010 1 1111111011 10111 0010101010101 11 111110100110 101 101000101010 110 1111111011100 11 101111101 110110 11011111010 101 01000101011 101 111100101110 001 101010100110 101 1101010101110 1 111000101010 101 11111101110 101 1110101010 10110
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 524
  • Average number of words per stanza: 93
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • 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; she, an', of, he are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word ' at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Ma And Her Checkbook;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Edgar Albert Guest