This is an analysis of the poem The Heritage that begins with:

The rich man's son inherits lands,
And piles of brick and stone, and gold,... 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: ababbCC adaddCC efeffCC GggggCC GagaaCC GfgffCC hahaaCc gdgddCcXbgbggCc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,7,7,7,7,7,15,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01110101 11011111 11010111 11011101 11010101 01000101 11110101 01110101 011101001 01110101 11111101 01011101 01000101 11110101 01110101 01011101 01011101 01010111 11000101 01000101 11110101 110111010 110101001 0101010010 10111101 010010111 01000101 01110101 110111010 1010000101 010111110 101001001 01100101 01000101 01110101 110111010 01010101 100101010 01010101 01011101 01000101 01110101 11111001 10110101 11001101 11010111 00011011 01000101 11010101 11111111 10110011 01010111 11010101 11110101 01000101 11010101 11011101 11000111 11000111 11001101 10100111 01000101 11010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 245
  • Average number of words per stanza: 47
  • Amount of lines: 63
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

    The poet repeated the same word fee 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 Heritage;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by James Russell Lowell