This is an analysis of the poem Stand By The Engines that begins with:

On the moonlighted decks there are children at play,
While smoothly the steamer is holding her way;... 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: aabb aacc bbbb aaXb ddbbXddbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 101001111011 11001001001 101111011111 101101011001 11101101001 11001001000 11011011011 11111011001 11101101111 01101101101 10001001011 01111011001 01011101101 01011101001 111011101010 01101101101 111011101001 11111011101 11111011001 11101101101 11011011111 11111001001 11101101101 11011101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 194
  • Average number of words per stanza: 37
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 48 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The poet repeated the same word engineers 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 Stand By The Engines;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Henry Lawson