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

OH, I wad like to ken—to the beggar-wife says I—
Why chops are guid to brander and nane sae guid to fry. ... 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: aaXA AaaA AaaA AXaAXAaaA
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1111010010111 1111010111101 110111101010101 011110101010101 1111010010111 1101001110111 0100111010001 011110101010101 1111010010111 111001100001 11001100110111 011110101010101 1111010010111 111101110001 11110111110101 011110101010101 1111010010111 01010110100101 110100101010011 011110101010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 216
  • Average number of words per stanza: 47
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 54 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; to is repeated.

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

    The poet repeated the same word me 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 Spaewife;
  • 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 Louis Stevenson