This is an analysis of the poem The Shepherd Boy that begins with:

WHEN the red moon hangs over the fold,
And the cypress shadow is rimmed with gold,... 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: aabcbcdddeed aaXXfbfXe gge ehgiihddeeaajkkj
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,9,3,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101111001 1010110101 110111111 11010111 11110111 101110101 111110101 10110110101 110111111 11111 11111 100100111 101110101 11111111 100101001 110101100 10010101 10100101 1010100101 110100101 10101110101 10110 10110 111101101 101100101 1011110111 111100100 011111011110 001010010010 1111110101 10111001101 1010110101 11110111 100100101 110111011 1111110101 110111001 11110 10110 11100111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 369
  • Average number of words per stanza: 73
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words and, no, where are repeated.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines me is repeated).

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall