The Bonny Earl Of Murray by Thomas Percy: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem The Bonny Earl Of Murray that begins with:

Ye highlands, and ye lawlands,
Oh! whair hae ye been?... 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: Xaba bXXX CdBd CXBX CXBXXbaba
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1101110 11110 11101010 1111101 1100110 110011 1111111 1011101 110110 111101 10101010 1111001 110110 111101 10101010 10100101 110110 111101 10101010 1110101 110010 110101 11101010 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 111
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; hae, ye, you, he are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word he 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 Bonny Earl Of Murray;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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