This is an analysis of the poem Epistle To The Rev. John M'Math that begins with:

WHILE at the stook the shearers cow'r
To shun the bitter blaudin' show'r,... 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: XXXaba cccbcb dXdeXe fffgXg cccaca hhhXhX ggghgh eeeiei ggXifi jjXcjc iiieie iiifif fffcfc hhhfhf hhhXhb Xiiehe
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010101 01010101 10100101 0101 011101010 0101 1110110010 111111110 011101110 11110 111101010 11000 111111010 11010101 110101110 10111 11010101 11011 111111100 110011110 111111110 11010 110111100 11110 11101101 11110001 11011101 11011 11011101 11111 11011101 01000111 11011101 11010 11010101 01010 111111001 01010110 11110101 1101 11010101 0101 110101110 1111001110 110111010 11001 110101010 1101 11011101 11011101 11011101 1101 11111101 1111 11010011 11110111 11011101 1111 11111111 0101 11010101 10011111 10010101 11011 01001101 11011 111111001 11010011 010011111 0101 11011101 0101 01110111 01110101 01111001 11110 110101101 11010 11111101 01110001 010100101 01010 11110101 11010 10110111 10110111 11111101 11110 101101101 11010 100101110 10010010 01010101 111101 10011101 111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 16
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 182
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 111
  • Average number of symbols per line: 26 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; an', their, i, be, in, spite, o' are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words to, their, an, they, in, sir are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Epistle To The Rev. John M'Math;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Robert Burns