This is an analysis of the poem To A Louse that begins with:

On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church
Ha! whare ye gaun' ye crowlin ferlie?... 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: X XXabXb Xccaca XXdede ffffff fXXXXX gggXgX hXhihXXbbbibi
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,6,6,6,6,6,6,13,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110110101011 111111101 110001110 110111110 1111 1111111100 1101 110101010 010111110 111111010 11010 111111110 11110 10110101 11111111 110101010 01110 111111010 11110 11111111 01010111 11111101 11110 01010101 1110 111111111 11111110 1111010010 11110 111101011 11110 11100101 11111101 1101111 1100 1111001 1111 11010111 11110110 1101111 01010 11110111 11010 111100111 011011011 011101011 11010 1101111101 11010
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 176
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 49
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • 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; ye, us are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines us is repeated).

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

  • summary of To A Louse;
  • 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