This is an analysis of the poem If A Daughter You Have that begins with:

If a daughter you have, she's the plague of your life,
No peace shall you know, tho' you've buried your wife,... 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: aabBccB ddbBXcB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: sonnet with trochaic tetrameter or irregular meter
  • Metre: 001011101011 11111111011 110111010110 11010110010 10110 10110 11010110010 110111110011 010110110111 111010110110 11010110010 100110 10110 11010110010
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 289
  • Average number of words per stanza: 53
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word daughter 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 If A Daughter You Have;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Richard Brinsley Sheridan