This is an analysis of the poem Camp Followers that begins with:

In the old wars of the world there were camp-followers,
Women of ancient sins who gave themselves for hire,... 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: abbaaacXXXccXddXdcddddXd bbXXXdaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 24,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0011001101100 1001011101110 1001111010 1101010001 1101011101 01010011 1001010101 1100111101 11001101001 0111010001 1011000111 11011001001 0111010101 1001010011 1101 01110000111 1011 0101110101 0100110111 1011001101 100101 1101011111 0001010001 1100001 1100101110 1100101110 11001010100 0111111111 0101001001101 0110001 011100 01001110011
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 636
  • Average number of words per stanza: 120
  • Amount of lines: 33
  • Average number of symbols per line: 38 (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; of, they, come, in, name, their are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words women, they, to, the are repeated.

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

  • summary of Camp Followers;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox