This is an analysis of the poem When Gassy Thompson Struck It Rich that begins with:

He paid a Swede twelve bits an hour
Just to invent a fancy style... 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 acdc aeXe bfbf Xdgd ghXh diji bgjgXhhbh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 110111110 10010101 01010101 10111101 11101011 11110101 11011101 010101101 11101111 11010101 11010101 11010101 11011100 11011001 11011111 11111111 11111101 110111100 11101101 10010101 11010001 11111101 11011101 11010101 11010101 11010111 11010111 11010001 11110101 11110101 110010111 01110111 11011101 01010101 01110111 11010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 141
  • Average number of words per stanza: 27
  • Amount of lines: 36
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; they, and are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word they 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 When Gassy Thompson Struck It Rich;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Vachel Lindsay