This is an analysis of the poem The Gentle Water Bird (For Mary Gilmore) that begins with:

In the far days, when every day was long,
Fear was upon me and the fear was strong,... 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: aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff aaA bbb aaa eee bbb ggg bbb bbb fffXaaA
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 00111100111 1101110111 1111010101 0011110111 1101111101 1111001101 101000111001 1010001111 1011010111 10010100111 0110010001 1001011001 1001010111 1101000101 1101110011 1101110101 1111010101 1011111101 1011110101 1011111101 11010101001 1011101111 1111001101 0101010111 1010110111 1111010101 1111110101 1011000101 10100111001 1011110101 10100011101 1101011111 1101110101 1000011101 1001111101 1001010001 1111111101 1101110101 1011000101 1111110111 1101001111 1011001101 0111000111 1101011101 1011001101 1001000111 1011010101 11010101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 16
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 124
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same word 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 The Gentle Water Bird (For Mary Gilmore);
  • 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 Shaw Neilson