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

There is not in the wide world a river as grand
As the one whose bright waves lave my own native land ;... 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: aabbaaccaa aaddbbccee ffffggddccaabbbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 10,10,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 101001101011 101111111101 001101101001 11011001001 11001101101 01001001101 01001101010 11101011101 111011011001 101101001001 11111111011 11001001111 01001001101 11001001111 110010101111 11001001001 11011111011 111011001001 01101101011 11101101001 11001011101 111011001111 11011101001 11011011101 11101111011 010001011001 11011111011 01011011011 11111001011 01011011001 11111111101 01001001001 01011011101 01111110001 1101111001011 11101011001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 578
  • Average number of words per stanza: 108
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • 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:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Kate Harrington