This is an analysis of the poem A Cradle Song that begins with:

Sweet dreams form a shade,
O'er my lovely infants head.... 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: aabb ccaa ddbX bbbX aaee ffgg hhgg hhbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101 10110101 110101 11010101 11011 1111101 11101 10101101 11001 1010101 11101 101001100 111001 1110011 11101 101001100 11101 1010111 11101 11011101 11011 1010111 11111 11011111 1111111 1111101 1010101 10011111 1111111 1011101 1011011 101101100
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 116
  • Average number of words per stanza: 21
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; smiles, moans, sleep, for, on are repeated.

    The author used the same word sweet at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word beguiles at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of A Cradle Song;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by William Blake