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

Here all the day she swings from tide to tide,
Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain,...

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 Xcddc efeef gdggd adaaX hchc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,5,5,5,5,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101110101 1111110101 01001110101 1101010001 01100010111011 00101010001 101010101011100 101010101110001 10101010101 10000101100101 0101010111 11010001111101 101101011101101 1101010011 101010101010001 0101010101 101110111011101 101010101010101 10101010101 10101000101011101 10101010001 10101010101100101 101011101010111 10111010100 1101000111 01001010101 1011110101 110110010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 256
  • Average number of words per stanza: 45
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 54 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word here is repeated.

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

  • summary of The Captain;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by John McCrae