This is an analysis of the poem The Sleeping Child that begins with:

My baby slept--how calm his rest,
As o'er his handsome face a smile... 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: abba cccc cddc ecce faaf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11011101 110010101 11010101 11110111 11010101 111001111 10111101 11011101 11010101 110101010 110111010 100101001 11111100 01000101 11010101 11111101 11110111 11010101 11111111 10110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 131
  • Average number of words per stanza: 27
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (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; i is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word my at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of The Sleeping Child;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Eugene Field