This is an analysis of the poem When The Old Dog Die that begins with:

THERE was grieving in the woodshed,
In the kitchen there were tears, ...

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: a bab X abA X cacd adA d dXde adA fd ed b afA b ddd XXafA
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,3,1,3,1,4,3,1,4,3,2,2,1,3,1,3,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11100011 0010101 11011111 110100 1111010 1010101 1101110 10111 11011101 110101 1111010 111101 0101110 110101 1111011 10111 11110111 011111 111111101 011101 11101010 0010111 11010101 10111 111110100 110101 11010001 110101 11110111 010101 1101011 10111 11111100 110111 11010101 011101 01111111 010111 11010101 10111
  • Amount of stanzas: 18
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 68
  • Average number of words per stanza: 13
  • Amount of lines: 41
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; and is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word they 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 When The Old Dog Die;
  • 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 Kirkland Kernighan