Sweet Afton by Robert Burns: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Sweet Afton that begins with:

FLOW gently, sweet Afton! amang thy green braes,
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;... 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: XaBB ccXX aXdd eedd aaff XaBB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 11011010111 11011101011 11001111001 11011001101 11011010101 11101001101 11101011010 11101111001 11011011001 11001001101 11011011101 11111011011 11011111001 11001101101 11111011001 01101111011 11011011001 11101111001 11011001011 1100110011111 11011010111 11011001011 11001111001 11011001101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 190
  • Average number of words per stanza: 33
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 39 (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; flow, thy, gently, my are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word how at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Sweet Afton;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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