This is an analysis of the poem Thy Ship that begins with:

Hadst thou a ship, in whose vast hold lay stored
The priceless riches of all climes and lands, ... 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: abbcX addeXXcf gafXbXa edgdbXedf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,8,7,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101011111 0101001111 1111010101 1000010101 1011110101 1011100101 1101001101 1111010100 01000101001 1011100111 1101010111 1101010001 1111110011 1101011101 1111010111 0101010101 1111010101 101110101 01010110101 0100110001 1111110101 1101010101 1100110111 1101011001 0101010111 11010011001 1101000101 1110010101 11110101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 310
  • Average number of words per stanza: 58
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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; and, of, to, on are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Thy Ship;
  • 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