This is an analysis of the poem The Ballad Of Justifiable Homicide that begins with:

They brought to me his mangled corpse
And I feared lest I should swing. ...

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: Xaba cBXX cBXb XXXX XdXd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010101 1111111 1011111101 111101 100110101 110101 111100100 11101100 11110101 110101 111100110 111011 11110101 011110 11110111 01010010 0101010110 11110010 110001000 0100010
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 132
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; me is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word wife 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 The Ballad Of Justifiable Homicide;
  • 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