This is an analysis of the poem The Little Orphan that begins with:

The crowded street his playground is, a patch of blue his sky;
A puddle in a vacant lot his sea where ships pass by:...

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: aabbaaccddee XXddcc ffaacc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 01010110010101 01000101011111 11010101010111 110010111010101 11011110011101 01110111110101 11110101110001 0101111011101 11110101011101 11010101110101 11010101110111 11110111110101 11011101111110 01000101110111 11011101010001 110101001011101 11111101011101 11011101110101 11010101011101 01011101110111 111101010101001 10010111110111 11111101010101 01011111110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 482
  • Average number of words per stanza: 95
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 59 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; his, and, he are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word dreams 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 The Little Orphan;
  • 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