This is an analysis of the poem The Junk Box that begins with:

My father often used to say:
'My boy don't throw a thing away:...

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: aaX bbb ccc ddd eee fff aaa ggg hhh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010101 11110101 11011011 10011111 11110111 111111001 01110111 11110111 010100011 11011101 11011111 11111011 11110111 11000101 11111101 01011101 111111011 11001100 01010101 11010101 11110101 01011001 10001111 01011001 11110100 11011101 11011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 107
  • Average number of words per stanza: 21
  • Amount of lines: 27
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word and at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of The Junk Box;
  • 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