This is an analysis of the poem On The Death Of Robert Dundas, Esq., Of Arniston that begins with:

LONE on the bleaky hills the straying flocks
Shun the fierce storms among the sheltering rocks;... 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: aabbccbbddee eeffgg ccbbddbbddhhii Xbbiiccee
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,6,14,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1101010101 10110101001 10010010101 010011100101 0101010101 0101010101 1111110111 1101110101 0101110111 1011010111 1001011101 1101011101 1101110111 0111011101 10011000001 0101011101 1001000101 1101000101 11000100101 1101010101 1001010101 1111000101 1101010111 1101010101 11010010001 10010101001 1101010001 11001110101 1101000101 0111010111 110101110001 11110101001 1111110101 0101111101 1101110101 1101010011 1101110101 01011101001 0101110101 11010010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 436
  • Average number of words per stanza: 73
  • Amount of lines: 43
  • Average number of symbols per line: 40 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word ye is repeated.

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

  • summary of On The Death Of Robert Dundas, Esq., Of Arniston;
  • 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