This is an analysis of the poem Sly Boy that begins with:

I was the slyest boy at home,
The slyest boy at school,... 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: abcb defe egcg hici Xgdg DCAX eheh Xjkj efhX cjej DCAXXbkhk
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 1101111 01111 11010101 111111 11110111 110011 11010101 011101 11011101 110111 11011101 000101 11111101 0101001 11111111 110101 11111101 110101 01011101 110011 11110101 111111 11010111 111101 11011101 011111 11110101 010101 11111111 110101 11010011 110101 11111101 110101 110011111 1101110 01110111 111111 11011101 001101 11110101 111111 11010111 111101 11110111 111101 100011011 101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 119
  • Average number of words per stanza: 25
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • 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:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i, nor are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words nor, i are repeated.

    The author used the same word i 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 Sly Boy;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Jean Blewett