This is an analysis of the poem The Shipman's Tale that begins with:

Listen my masters! I speak naught but truth.
From dawn to dawn they drifted on and on, ... 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: XabcXcbXaddccXXbXcaXaXbd be ebcXb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 24,2,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1011011111 0101110111 1101010111 1011010111 1101111101 1101101011 1101010111 1111011101 1101010101 1101011001 1100110101 1011010101 1101000101 0101010101 1111110001 0101110101 0111010110 11001111111 0101110111 1100110111 1101001111 11110101011 1111000101 1111110011 1111 110101 1101010011 1111011111 1100110111 1111011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 336
  • Average number of words per stanza: 60
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

  • summary of The Shipman's Tale;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Thomas Bailey Aldrich