This is an analysis of the poem Down-Hall. A Ballad. that begins with:

Tune. - 'King John and the Abbot of Canterbury.'
... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: X aabb C ddcc C eeff C cccc C gghh C ccag C iijj C eebb C cccc C bbjj C hhkk C Xlbb C kkaa C cXhh C mmXj C nnnn C ooee C kkhh C aaoo C ppll C hhhh C kkcc C hhnn C ccoo C kkcX c ccqq C mmpp C hhrr C jjoo C kkkk C kkhh C jjpp
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,5,4,1,4,1,4,1,4,1,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 111101001000 11111011011 01011101011 111100111010 110111111010 10111101 11111011001 01011111011 110010011011 101001110011 10111101 11011011001 01111001011 111111111001 11001011011 10111101 111011111001 11101011011 11111001101 11001101111 10111101 11111111001 111100101011 10101101100010 110111110110 10111101 11101111111 11011001011 111110110010 110110110110 10111101 11001001111 01101101101 11001101001 1011101011 10111101 111011011011 01001101001 010111010110 1010101010110 10111101 110011110110 111011010010 11001001001 11101111111 10111101 110111010010 111110010110 11011011001 111111000011 10111101 101001001011 11101111001 10001011111 101011001001 10111101 11011011010 10101101011 111111111110 010110011110 10111101 11011011011 110010011111 101101011011 111011001011 10111101 11111011111 11011011010 11011011001 11011101001 10111101 00111001001 101111001001 101011101011 10001011001 10111101 11111101111 1010011011011 11001011101 101011011001 10111101 11011011111 11001101011 111101111011 11111101001 10111101 11111111011 011011001011 111111110110 010011010010 10111101 11101101001 110011001011 11011011111 111001111001 10111101 11001011011 11011111011 11011011011 11001011001 10111101 11101011111 111100001101 111111101001 01101011011 10111101 01001001101 11001001101 1011111010010 1011011110110 10111101 11011101101 11011001001 01111011011 11101011011 10111101 11111011101 11101000101 11001011101 11011001001 10111101 11011001101 01001001001 11011011111 01101111010 1111101 11011001011 101001101001 0011010010010 011011010010 10111101 101011111111 110001011111 111111011111 11011111011 10111101 10101011001 11011101101 101001101101 11111001011 10111101 11001011111 111011111001 101001101001 11111101011 10111101 11101111001 1011101101011 11111001011 101001001001 10111101 11111101111 010011001001 011011010101 11101111101 10111101 11101111101 11101011101 11011001011 111101111111 10111101 11101011101 11101011111 01111111011 11111011001 10111101 100110111110 1111011011110 11011001001 01111111111 10111101 11111111001 101111011001 101011011111 11111111011 10111101 11011001111 11010011011 101111010111 01101101101 10111101 11011011101 1001100101101 011111101101 01001101011 10111101 01101101101 111011111111 11100011011 0101111001 0111101 11011001001 01001001001 011101011001 11001101011 10111101 11111101111 11111011101 111111101011 110111111110 10111101 11101001001 11101001111 1011111111110 11111101001 10111101 011110010110 011010111110 101111011011 111011111101 10111101 11111101111 1101111101 01011111101 11011001001 10111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 86
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 114
  • Average number of words per stanza: 22
  • Amount of lines: 258
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (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; down, to, and, i, she, her, of, in, have, your, our, with, for are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines down, it are repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word down at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Down-Hall. A Ballad.;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Matthew Prior