This is an analysis of the poem The Mother's Question that begins with:

When I was a boy, and it chanced to rain,
Mother would always watch for me;...

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: ababccdX ceceaadX fcfcggdd bcbcccdX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101101001 10111111 110110101 101101110 1010101101 010011111 01111101 111101111 100111101 110011101 10011111 10111101 11110101 101100101 1010111101 111101111 101101010 110101101 111011010 10010101 10010111 0010111101 010011101 11101101 110100111 0100100101 11010101 1110110101 1111111101 0010110101 010111101 111101111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 303
  • Average number of words per stanza: 60
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word the is 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 The Mother's Question;
  • 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