This is an analysis of the poem How Mcdougal Topped The Score that begins with:

A peaceful spot is Piper's Flat. The folk that live around -
They keep themselves by keeping sheep and turning up the ground;... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: aabbccbb ddXeccfX ddddgghh ddiijjaa ddggffii ccXccchh ccbbXXkk cXiiXgff cciieeaaXaaddggbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,8,8,8,8,8,17,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01010101011101 11011101110101 101000101010101 01000100010101 11111101111111 11111101110101 101110101110101 11110010110101 10010110110101 01010111010101 10111110111011100 111010101110101 1100111101010111 11011101110101 11111101111101 1111011011111010 11111101110001 111011101110101 11010101110001 111110100100101 11010101010111 111000100010101 111010111110111 111011101011101 11011101111111 11101101010001 1101110101110001 10101110101110101 11010111010111 01101011010111 11110111010001 11110100111111 01011101011101 10010111011101 10010101110101 111110100010101 10111101110001 11011111110001 01011101010101 11010101110101 11011001110101 11010101110101 1010111010101010 1101010111100 1010111101010001 11011010101100101 1110101000010101 11011111010001 11010111110001 1100010111010000 10100101110101 1101010101010101 1001010001111110 1110101111101 11011101110101 11011101100101 11111111111111 1101011101010100 1011001010101 1010111010101101 1011101100100100010 1001011001010101 11011101110101 10101010001110101 1010101100111 1110010110101 10101010001110111 1101110101110101 11010111010011 01010101110101 11100101010101 1110101111001 111010111101 11110101111001 11010101111111 11100101100101 101011101010111 11010010011101 101010001110001 11110010110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 508
  • Average number of words per stanza: 89
  • Amount of lines: 80
  • Average number of symbols per line: 63 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, we, to, he, he'd, it, ball, struck, his, they, him, chased, molongo are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of How Mcdougal Topped The Score;
  • 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 E. Spencer