This is an analysis of the poem A Vision of the Mermaids that begins with:

Rowing, I reach'd a rock - the sea was low -
Which the tides cover in their overflow,... 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: aXXbccdddddXeeXfggggeebbbhbbbbiiiggddddggjjaakcjjiillXbmmjXXXXXiiddXXggmmffddjjjjhhlXXijjeeXiffjjffcXXXjjddjjcXllnnggiXggccddkcmmllmmieaadXccXb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 143,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1011010111 1011001101 10011111010 0011010101 0110101101 1011010001 1101011101 10101010101 10111010001 11001010111 1111011111 1100010100 1111010101 10010000101 1001110101 1011010111 01001011111 10101010101 1111010111 01101111101 01011101001 1101110101 0101000101 0101010101 10011100111 01010110101010 1101010111 0101010101 1101010101 1111110101 0101101001 1111110101 110110011111 11010111110 10010111110 1001110101 1101110111 0111010101 01001110101 01011001001 01011101001 11001110111 0101000111 011101001 11111100101 01011011010 1101010101 0111010111 01010011101 0101010101 1110110001 0101110101 1101110101 0101111100 00101010111 1101001101 1011110101 1100111101 0101010100 111010101010 10010100100 110100101100 011000111010 0010100101010 01100111010 1001010100 1101010101 0101010111000 0101101010 01010010101 0101011101 110010010101 1101011101001 1111000101 1101010011 01110101001 10001011111 110011111011 0101010111 1101111101 1101010001 11010111010 1101011100010 11110001001 1011011000 1101011011100 10010100101 0101010101 1011110101 01011101011 0101011111 01010100100 010010101010 11010111001 0101011011 1101110101 0101110101 1110010011 1101110101 1101011101 1101010101100 1001110111 0101010111 1101101111 11011101001 111110101 101010001101 11010010111 0111010101 1001101101 1011111000 1001011101 011010111 1011010101 1111101111101 1100110101 1011011101 1111111101 1111011101 01010010011 1101110001 01011001001 01001010110 0111010111 1101010111 1111111110 0101010101 1001001111 1111001101 10010001111 1011101011 1101010101 10110001001 11010010101 1001101111101 1101110101 0101111001 1011010111 01011011010 0101111101 1111010101 111101010010 111111111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 6497
  • Average number of words per stanza: 1124
  • Amount of lines: 143
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, of, to are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words and, the, of are repeated.

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

  • summary of A Vision of the Mermaids;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins