This is an analysis of the poem When Father Played Baseball that begins with:

The smell of arnica is strong,
And mother's time is spent...

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: XaXXXbcb defedbab fgaghbaX dihiXbaB hjjjkbhB bgagkbdB gkXkdbcbXfcfcfbab
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,8,8,17,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01010001 110101 01010111 010100 01010101 110101 11111111 110111 11011101 1111110 10011111 0111010 11010101 011101 11111011 111111 11010010 110111 11110101 111101 11010101 011101 11111111 011101 11000111 110101 11111101 110101 11110101 110101 11011111 110111 11011101 010101 11010001 110101 11000101 110111 11010101 110111 11011111 110101 01110101 110101 11010001 111111 01011101 110111 11110111 110001 01110100 110101 11010101 011111 01010101 110111 01010001 110001 01010101 100101 11111100 111111 01110101 011111
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 255
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 64
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (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; he, i are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word baseball 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 When Father Played Baseball;
  • 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