This is an analysis of the poem The Old Women Of The Ocean that begins with:

To the solemn sea the old women come
With their shawls knotted around their necks ...

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: Xab Xca cbd dec fXc fac aec gdXXgefd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0010101101 011100111 0110110 11101101 011011111 0110011010 0011111 1011100 1011 01011010 10000101 11101001 101111110 11010010 110111 111010 01110100 0101101 110101 0101010 01110 11111101 01101111001 10101010100 0110111101 011011 10110 10010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 104
  • Average number of words per stanza: 19
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; their, they are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words with, without, they, the, from are repeated.

    The author used the same words the, they at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of The Old Women Of The Ocean;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Pablo Neruda