This is an analysis of the poem Variations Of An Air that begins with:

Old King Cole
Was a merry old soul... 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: aabcab d XeXefgedchiXdjb i Xgdg kdgd jgkg kkdk d lXegbbXfhhiiieklXh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,1,15,1,4,4,4,4,1,18,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111 101011 10101111 11101 111101 111101001 101100 1110010100 1011011011 10010101001 1101010111 1100010001 1101011101 0101000101 1101010101 1101011101 1011110111 1101010101 1001010100 1111110111 0111010101 1011010101 1011 01110010 00111111 1111110 101001 11101110 101101 11011010 111101 11111001 111001 11011110 0100101 11100110 001010 0111010 110010 10110 1010 1100111000 101101011110101011 110110001101101 01101101 1011001010101101 101111 1110011111111 1111010011101010 111100110 10100010010 1010100110010011 1101101110101010100100 10111001010010010 100101000101110 111010011111100100100 1111001100 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 223
  • Average number of words per stanza: 40
  • Amount of lines: 64
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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; old, and, me, i, you are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word and at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines me, spitting are repeated).

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase he connects the lines.

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

  • summary of Variations Of An Air;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Gilbert Keith Chesterton