This is an analysis of the poem The Kirk Of Scotland's Alarm: A Ballad that begins with:

ORTHODOX! orthodox, who believe in John Knox,
Let me sound an alarm to your conscience:... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: aabaa cdXdd eXfgg hXiXX ghXhh jihii kblbb kbhmm mdadd jbcXX dabXX heiee cjbXX cmXnn Xcocc leXdd jhfhh jekee gehee hoeXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101101101011 1111010110 01001101001 110111010 101110111010 101101111101 011010110 01111011010 11001010 101111001010 101101011101 0101100101 1011011001001 1100110010 101110010010 1111111101 111101101 111011110111 11011111 11111011111 101101101001 101001001 11111011011 111010011 1011111010011 10110111111 101001011 11111101111 11011111 101111011111 1011011110010 11011001 00111101101 101101111 1011101101111 101010101010010 11100010111 10100111101 11110111111 1010111110111111 1111111111 0110111010 11111001011 110111110 11110111110 10110111111 010010010 101011101101 11100110111 101111100110111 101010101011110 01011101 101101101111 0010011010 101010010011010 101101111011 01111011 101011111001 111111111 1011111111111 1011011011101 01101101 011001111011 001011011 1011001011011 101101111001 1011011111 111111111111 1110111110 1011110111110 10110110001001 01101101 111101100101 111101111 101111101111 100100111011 111001101 01001111101 1110011110 10011110011110 1011011110001 101011011 11101001001 111101111 10111101111 1011011011101 110111101 1100101011010 111011111 101111011111 10101001000001101101101 11110011 111001001001 110101001 101110101001 101101111101 01000101 101101111001 011011010 101011011010
  • Amount of stanzas: 20
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 234
  • Average number of words per stanza: 44
  • Amount of lines: 119
  • Average number of symbols per line: 39 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; that, your, ye, an', for, she are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines nonsense, error, ruin, twa, 'd, few, gate, t, better, in't, brutes, mair, ance, value, bark, hour, lead, are, sincere, clackleith are repeated).

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

  • summary of The Kirk Of Scotland's Alarm: A Ballad;
  • 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