This is an analysis of the poem The Ballade Of The Average Reader that begins with:

I try to touch the public taste,
For thus I earn my daily bread....

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: ababbcbC abaXbbcbC ababbXbC X bXbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,9,8,1,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010101 11111101 11011101 01110111 11010111 110101010 11111111 1101110010 01000011 11010101 00101101 1101000 1 110100101 111101110 11110111 1101110010 11011001 11010101 11010101 000100101 111100101 1111001010 111100101 1101110010 10 11010011 010101100 11111111 1101110010
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 204
  • Average number of words per stanza: 36
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; i, how, many, average, i've, seen are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words how, i've are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word reader 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 Ballade Of The Average Reader;
  • 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