This is an analysis of the poem A Meditation Of St. Eligius that begins with:

Queen Mary one day Jesus sent
To fetch some water, legends tell;...

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: abab cdcd cbcb bbbb cccc aeae Xcfcfc aXaX aXaX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,6,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11011101 01110101 01010100 10110001 11110001 01010001 01011111 01010101 01010111 10010101 010010101 11110100 10011101 01110101 11011100 11010101 11111101 010101011 01010101 11010111 11011111 11010101 01010101 11110101 10 11 1101 110101001 11110101 11011101 10111101 11010111 01011101 110110001 11110101 01111101 10010101 11011010
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 136
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 41
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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; to is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words the, had, no are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word ' 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 A Meditation Of St. Eligius;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by George MacDonald