This is an analysis of the poem A Sad Child that begins with:

You're sad because you're sad.
It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical....

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: abbbX acccc cXdefXfgXa hcfeg daXhg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,10,5,5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110111 0100010100 11011101 1111011101 1101 111011 111100 11101011 10110111 1110001 011 110111 1100111101 0100110 111011001 1110010 01110010 10111 110100011 11101001 110101 1100 101110110 1110110110 100101101 1011010101 10100110111 110111010 1010 11111
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 185
  • Average number of words per stanza: 37
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; it's, and, or are repeated.

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

    The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase forget connects the lines.

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

  • summary of A Sad Child;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Margaret Atwood