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

The handy man about the house
Is old and bent and gray;...

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: AbcbcdAdefXfcdXdcgcgcbcbebXbhhXXbbbbdcXchbfbbdgd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 48,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01010101 011111 11000111 110101 111100111 111101 01010101 110101 01010111 111101 11110101 110001 11010111 111101 11010111 100111 11011101 010101 01010101 011101 11011111 111111 11000101 111101 11010101 111111 11111111 0101001 11011101 010001 00010011 111111 11011101 100111 11011111 110101 01111111 010011 01010101 110101 11110111 111100 11110111 110111 01010111 111101 11101101 101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1474
  • Average number of words per stanza: 299
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (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; him, and, your, i are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Handy Man;
  • 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