This is an analysis of the poem The Inventory that begins with:

SIR, as your mandate did request,
I send you here a faithfu' list,... 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: aaXX bbXccXXddeeffXXaaXXbbaaffccXX ggXXhhhhXXXX ccggiieejjjhhXX cXkkXbaXaaXX aegX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,29,12,15,12,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11111001 11110101 110111111 01010111 010111010 1111011010 11011001 1110101110 111101010 111010111 111111111 111111001 01110111 11101101 11011101 010101110 1110111111 1111101 11010101 111010101 110011111 01010101 01111101 100011101 11011001 11010001 11101111 11001111 11111101 111101110 111101110 11010101 11110101 11111001 11110111 0101010110 110101010 110111010 110110010 111111010 110101010 11110111 11010111 111110010 111100010 110111010 1111111010 111111110 111111110 110111011 1101010011 110111010 111111110 1110111 11010001 01011111 10111110 110110010 111101010 10111101100 110101010 110101010 10111101 1111111 11111111 111111010 110111110 110101010 01111111 01110011 11011011 11111101 011111110 011111010 11111001 100110100101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 457
  • Average number of words per stanza: 90
  • Amount of lines: 81
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (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; me, her are repeated.

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

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

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

  • summary of The Inventory;
  • 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