This is an analysis of the poem May Day that begins with:

Will you go a-maying, a-maying, a-maying,
Come and be my Queen of May and pluck the may with me?... full text

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: XabX Xcbc XXbX babX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 011010010010 1101101110101 0111010111110 0101011010101 11101011010 001111110111 101100101010 11011111101 11110101111010 11111111111 10011110101010 101110100110 111010010010 10101010011111 11011111110 10111011111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 207
  • Average number of words per stanza: 43
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • Average number of symbols per line: 51 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; maying, and are 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 May Day;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Edith Nesbit