Hey, The Dusty Miller by Robert Burns: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Hey, The Dusty Miller that begins with:

HEY, the dusty Miller,
And his dusty coat,... 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: abcbbXXa adcDDaXa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101010 10101 101010 11101 10101 101010 10101 1111010 101010 10101 111010 10101 10101 101010 11111 101010
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 177
  • Average number of words per stanza: 35
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 20 (very short strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 4

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words dusty, fills are repeated.

    The author used the same word hey 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 peck is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word miller 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 Hey, The Dusty Miller;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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