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

We have no heart for the fishing, we have no hand for the oar —
All that our fathers taught us of old pleases us now no more;... 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: aabb ccdd eeff ggff hhff aaff ffii jjkk llffXhhcc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111110101111101 111101101101111 11111110111111101 1011001111100111 111100101111111 1111110110110111 110101111111111 1010100100110101101 110111011101101 100100101100101 100100100101001001 1111001110110101 11110100101001001 110111011110101 110110111110101 11110011011011101 10110111001010111 11010110101011011 1101010010111101 11010011010110101 1010010100101011 11010101110101 10110011110101111 10111001001101001011 1110010010100101 11100010010110101 10110110111011011 10110110111110111001 1110101100101101 1111110010010101 1010100101110111 1001010110100101 1111011011101011 1101110111111001 11010110011101101 10111111111101101 1001010011001001 100111010111011 101011010010011101 111101111111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 283
  • Average number of words per stanza: 55
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 70 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 14
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; we, no, us, sea, our, and, dykes, their are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word all is repeated.

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

  • summary of The Dykes;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Rudyard Kipling