This is an analysis of the poem The Fly In The Ointment that begins with:

When the great Creator fashion'd us, and saw that we were good,
He commission'd us to dominate the planet as it stood. ... 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: aabb ccbb bbbX XXdd eeff ccXa XXgg X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,1,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101010101111100 101010101010101 1010010101110101 101011011010101 1011101101001001 111110101010011 111010101010110 111110100010011 101010111010101 1110011100110001 101010101110101 111010101100000 00110100011111 10101110110100 11001100110101 111110101111100 101010101010101 111011101010101 101010111011101 111010101111111 111010101111101 101110100010101 1110111110111110 111010100010101 101011101010111 1011111010101010 1010011010101001 1010010101010101 10011
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 222
  • Average number of words per stanza: 39
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 61 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; us, we, of, o, let are repeated.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Joseph Furphy