This is an analysis of the poem Ballade Of The Breakfast Table that begins with:

When the Festal Board, as the papers say,
Groans 'neath the weight of a lot to eat,...

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: abXbbcbC abXbbcbC abddbbcbC X bcXC
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,9,1,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1010110101 110100101 110101100 1011100101 110101101 001110001 000101101 111101101 1101100111 011110001 101100110 0110100101 1111100101 101100111 100110011 111101101 101101001 01011111 100110111111011100 100100100010100111 01 11111101 100100101 1001011001 111101101 10 100000111 100010111 100100110 111101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 236
  • Average number of words per stanza: 42
  • Amount of lines: 31
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (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; with is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word enough 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 Ballade Of The Breakfast Table;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Franklin Pierce Adams