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

Each evening on my lap there climbs
A little boy of three,...

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: abcXXadadebeaedecbfbgegeXhbhfbgb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 32,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011111 010101 10010101 1111000 11110101 110111 11110011 110111 11110101 110001 11010111 110101 11111001 010101 11010101 110111 01010111 110111 11010111 010101 11011101 110101 11010000 010011 11010001 110101 11000111 110001 11110101 110101 11110101 111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 934
  • Average number of words per stanza: 183
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (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; my, he are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Boy Soldier;
  • 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