This is an analysis of the poem The Rigs O' Barley that begins with:

It was upon a Lammas night,
When corn rigs are bonnie, ... 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: ababcbcbdbab ebeBXbfBD gbgBabaBD hXhfXbXBD
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,9,9,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01010101 111110 01011001 1101010 01111101 1101110 11010101 0111010 111101 111110 11011101 1001110 01110111 0111010 11011100 1001110 11011111 1101010 11011101 1001110 11 11001101 0111010 11011101 1001110 11011111 11110110 11111101 1001110 11 11011111 1101010 110101001 1101010 110101011 1111010 11011111 1001110 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 332
  • Average number of words per stanza: 55
  • Amount of lines: 39
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; rigs, i, her, that are repeated.

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

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

    The poet repeated the same word rigs 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 The Rigs O' Barley;
  • 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