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

Well I recall my Father's wife,
The day he brought her home.... 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: ababcbXb dedefgfg eheXieie dcdjXXki lelejmjm ekekngng khkhebeb lnlnbgbXXmjmjeheh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,8,8,8,17,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011101 011101 01011001 110101 10001100 010111 11110101 100101 11010100 011111 11010111 110111 11011101 010101 11010101 110101 100001111 1011101 111111111 10111011 11100101 010101 11011011 110001 11011101 0101010 11110101 110101 11010110 1000010100 11010011 011101 01110101 111101 11010101 010111 01110011 110111 1010101111 110111 11110111 11011101 11000101 011101 11110101 11010101 11010001 11110101 11010101 11010101 11010111 01011101 11010111 11010101 10011101 11010111 11110111 110111001 11110101 11010101 101110111 01010001 01010111 1101110100 11011101 11011101 11101101 11011011 11011001 011011110 01011111 1100010
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 269
  • Average number of words per stanza: 49
  • Amount of lines: 72
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, my, to are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Step 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 Susanna Moodie