How Doth The Little Busy Bee by Isaac Watts: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem How Doth The Little Busy Bee that begins with:

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,... 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: abab cdcd cece afaf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010101 0111010 11010101 010010010 11001101 111101 11010101 001111 01010101 110101 11011101 110101 01111101 111001 111111001 100111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 118
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 16
  • 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:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; she is repeated.

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

    The author used the same words how, in at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of How Doth The Little Busy Bee;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Isaac Watts

Poems about...
✕