This is an analysis of the poem Follower that begins with:

My father worked with a horse-plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung...

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: abcb bdbd efeX dede agcgXbfbf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010011 0101010111 01011010 01110101 11011101 11011101 011100110 101000101 01010111 11000101 10110101 10010010 11000111 10110101 01111101 10110001 11001111 01111011 11100110 00111101 110101010 1011101 0011011100 011101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 139
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The author used the same word i 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 Follower;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Seamus Heaney