The Little Slit In The Tail by Henry Lawson: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem The Little Slit In The Tail that begins with:

I’M GLAD that the Bushmen can’t see me now
A-doing it tall in the town;... 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: ababcdcDeD XfXfXXeded
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1110101111 01001001 1111111111 11101111 1100111101 10110111 11100100101 00101001 0010100100 00101001 110110101 1110111 0010110101 10101001 110111011 1011111 111101111 11101001 1010100100 10101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 364
  • Average number of words per stanza: 84
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (medium-length strings)
  • 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, for, tail, in, slit are repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word tail 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 Little Slit In The Tail;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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