This is an analysis of the poem The Ballad Of Gum-Boot Ben that begins with:

He was an old prospector with a vision bleared and dim.
He asked me for a grubstake, and the same I gave to him....

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: aabb ccdd ccbb eeff eecc bbee ccgg hhbb bbee eecc ccdd ddcXXddee
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 111111000101011 11110101011101 11000101111111 01000100000111 101110101110101 11111101010101 11011101110011 11010001110101 101000101110001 010011011100111 011111001110101 01111111110011 101100111111101 01011001110111 010111010111001 11111101110111 101111101110101 11011111001101 110111101110101 11010001111111 101111101111111 00011111011101 111111010101001 01111111010110 101011101010111 01111111110011 11111111010101 111111001010101 11110101110111 011111110100001 11011100110001 11011101111101 101101111111101 11111111111111 11010101110101 11011101110101 101011101001101 11011111110101 01111101100101 01011101010001 101011111111111 101101110100101 11110101010111 11010101110101 101111111010001 11011111010101 11011101111101 010101110111010 11110001110101 10110101110101 11111000110101 11111101110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 245
  • Average number of words per stanza: 48
  • Amount of lines: 52
  • Average number of symbols per line: 61 (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; he, and, i, of, had, on, to are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words i, and 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 The Ballad Of Gum-Boot Ben;
  • 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 William Service