This is an analysis of the poem Epistle To William Simson that begins with:

I GAT your letter, winsome Willie;
Wi' gratefu' heart I thank you brawlie;... 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: aXabab cdXXce fXXgXg hhhaXa dddidi bXbibi fffdfb bXbiXi abbcbc iiXhiX dddddd iiXeXe eeXeee iiicic jjjkjk llXjlj XXXfjf iXhihi bbbXbc XhhXXe bXXXbb dccXck XXXcXc dddXdi hhhXhc iiihih XmXcmX XXXcbc XXicic gggngn jXjXjX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 111101010 110011111 111111010 1101 110111010 11001 110111010 110101110 01011010010 1111 101101110 11011 11010001 11110101 11011100 0111 11000101 0101 110011001 11011101 11011101 11010 011111110 11010 11011111 11011101 11110011 1101 11011101 0111 11011111 11010101 11110101 1111 11011101 0111 11010101 01010101 111110001 01110 11110101 10010 11110100 11110110 10110101 1101 11010111 1001 1100101110 110101001 11011101 1111 11111101 1101 11110111 01111101 01110111 110010 11011101 11010 110011101 111000111 11110101 11001 11010111 11001 11110111 110011001 110101001 1101 11010101 0101 11011101 11110101 1111010 1101 110111001 1001 11011111 01010111 10010101 1111 11010101 0111 011101010 111011010 101101010 1111 110111010 0111 01011111 1101111 11110110 11110 110101001 11110 100101100010 1011100010 111111100 01010 110100010 11010 110011110 110111110 110101010 0101 110101110 0101 1001001101 11100101 11111111 101010 11111110 1101 011110110 110101110 111111010 1101 111101110 1111 01111101 11011111 11011011 11110 11010111 11011 011101010 011111010 111111100 1101 110111010 1111 11111001 11110110 11011101 1111 11010001 1111 01100101 01110001 01011111 11010 11110101 11110 11010101 11110111 11011101 1101 11010111 0111 01110101 11110111 11010101 1101 11011101 1101 11111101 11010111 11101101 1111 11111101 111000 110111110 110111110 101101010 1101 010111011 1111 11010101 11110101 11011101 0101 11111001 1101 110101010 110111010 010111010 1111 110111010 1111 110111010 01010100100 111111010 0101 111101110 1111
  • Amount of stanzas: 31
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 188
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 216
  • 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; i, my, her, an', it, to, them are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words her, while, an', the, frae are repeated.

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

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

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

  • summary of Epistle To William Simson;
  • 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