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

When the salt wave laps on the long, dim shore,
And frets the reef with its windy sallies,... 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: ababccaa bdbdeeaa cfcfgghh ididjjhh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1011110111 1101001010 1011101011 0101001010 110100111 11000111000 0100110101 1100100101 0100101101 0111011010 1100100101 0101011010 11101111 010100101 11110110101 011111101 1011100101 10101011110 1100111111 01001101010 1010100101 0101101111 00100110101 010011101 010100111 00111101110 111011111 010010001010 111011111 10101111101 1010110101 10110100101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 341
  • Average number of words per stanza: 67
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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; and, of are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lucy Maud Montgomery