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

1 O the Raggedy Man! He works fer Pa;
2 An' he's the goodest man ever you saw! ... 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: XXaabbcccc ddeeaacccc aaffccXccc ddeeccccccc gggXffccccc ffdXccXccc cchXhXXdXcc aagggXccXc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,10,10,11,11,10,11,10,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 11010011111 11101011011 1110111001 11100101101 111100111111 1111111011011 11111101111 1110111001 11111001001 11001001001 11010011110 1110101101 1111101101 111111111 1110110111 1110110111 11101111001 111011101001 11111011001 11001001001 11010011111 1111001101 111011111 1101100111 101111111 11111011101 111110110101 11111101001 11101001001 11001001001 1010011011 11011000110011 110011111 1111111110 1110111111 111110101001 11110111011 1110110101 111101011111 11111011001 11001001001 11010011111 1110110001 111111011 1101001110100 11110101101 11110110101 1111100111 1100101001 10101001001 11101011001 11001001001 11110100111 1111110101 1111011111 1101101010 1110110011011 111101101001 11110101111 111101101001 11111101001 11001001001 11010100111 11101101111 1011101111 1110011100 1111111111 10100111110 101010110100 111111111 1111100110001 11001000101001 11001001001 1010011111 1110010111011 1110111110 11110101110 11001101111 101111001010 1111111001 1111110001001 1011000110010 11001001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 498
  • Average number of words per stanza: 89
  • Amount of lines: 83
  • Average number of symbols per line: 47 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • 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; an', he, raggedy, man, him, 'at, er are repeated.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines man is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word man 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 Raggedy Man;
  • 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 Whitcomb Riley