This is an analysis of the poem Ships that begins with:

The great grey ships! We saw them in our dreaming,
The strong grey ships-the ships of our desire,...

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: abab acac adad XeXe afaf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01111100110 01110101010 11011101110 11010111010 11110011010 1011111101 01011100010 0101010001 11110111010 1101111001 10111101010 1001111101 11110100010 11001010101 01010101110 0101010101 11011111010 1101111101 11010111010 1100111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 186
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 46 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; by, ships, of, and, you are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Ships;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Virna Sheard