This is an analysis of the poem How The Old Horse Won The Bet that begins with:

DEDICATED BY A CONTRIBUTOR TO THE COLLEGIAN,
1830, TO THE EDITORS OF THE HARVARD ADVOCATE, 1876.... 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: aX bbccddeeffbbgghh eeaaXeiijjffbbiigXkkeXii aX ggg jjeeebb jjccjjaajXgXll bbbbkkmmjjnnee ffiinnkkoojj jjXaXi ffiijjhhii bbjjbb llXbffjXbbaa jXpplloohhaa ccaaiioojXXXccqqeeaa iXbbeegXiieebbhhjjaXjj aXbbbbeejX jjjjiiooccXeeebb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,16,24,2,3,7,14,14,12,6,10,6,12,12,20,22,10,16,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 100010010000010 10010000101001 111010101 01010101 01110101 11010101 01111101 01111101 01011101 11010111 11011001 11010101 111100101 01001101 11010101 01111111 11011111 01000111 110101001 010010101 01110101 11011111 01011111 10111101 11111101 10111101 10111101 11010111 11110101 010101001 11010101 01000101 11011101 01010111 010011101 010010101 010100101 11011101 11010101 11010101 110011001 11011101 111111101 1111111110 11011101 10111111 11011101 11010101 11110101 01011101 11000111 10010101 010010101 01010111 110010101 11010111 01110111 01110001 10110111 11111111 01010001 11011111 01010101 11111110 11110101 11010111 11110101 01111111 110100111 11011001 11111101 01011101 11110101 11010101 01010001 101010101 11011111 100010001 100010101 1101001 11011111 01110101 111101001 010111001 00010111 11010101 01010111 11010101 01011101 01010101 11010101 11110001 11010101 01011101 11010111 110011101 10110111 11010101 11110101 11010101 10110101 110100101 010111001 01110101 11010101 10110101 11011111 11011101 11110111 01010100 11011101 01110101 01010101 11010001 11110101 11010101 11010101 10010111 0100101100 11010101 011111001 11010001 01010101 11010110 01110101 01010101 01011111 11011101 01010111 11011101 11010101 01011101 10010101 10010111 01010001 01110111 01010101 01110111 11010101 11010001 01010101 01011101 11011101 11010101 11011111 11011101 010100101 0101100101 11010111 11111111 110111111 11111101 11010111 01010001 010101110 110101110 11011101 11111001 111110110 11011101 11011111 11011101 11011101 11010101 11010101 11010101 111011111 01110111 11110101 110100111 11011101 11010101 11110111 11011101 11010101 11010101 11010111 11010101 11010101 01110110 11000101 11110101 11110101 11110110 11011111 11011101 11110101 11000101 1111110 11110111 11010011 111111111 01011101 01110001 10011111 01010101 11000101 11010001 110011001 11011101 11110101 01010101 10011101 01111101 1010101 10110101 011111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 19
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 393
  • Average number of words per stanza: 74
  • Amount of lines: 207
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, his, he, ', they, two, i are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words the, or, it, his, he, he'll, and, some are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of How The Old Horse Won The Bet;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Oliver Wendell Holmes