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

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea....

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 ccXX ccbb ccdd eeaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 110101101 1001011001 100101101 10100101 110101111 0101101101 1001001101 1100110101 110101111 0100100101 100110101 100100101 1101011101 110100111 101101101 111100101 111100101 1001011001 101111100 110101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 150
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (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; and, his, of, that are 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 The Reading Mother;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Strickland Gillilan