This is an analysis of the poem A Tale, Founded On A Fact, Which Happened In January, 1779 that begins with:

Where Humber pours his rich commercial stream,
There dwelt a wretch, who breathed but to blaspheme.... 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: XXaabbccaaddeeaaffaaggaahhiiccjjeecciihhaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 42,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101010101 1101111010 0100010111 1101011111 1101010001 0101110101 0100010111 0101111111 1001000101 0111011101 10010101001 1101110001 0111010001 11010100101 11010101101 1101010101 0101011101 1111110101 0101010101 1101010101 0101010101 1101010101 1111010101 0101111111 1101110111 1101110111 1111110011 1101010101 11011101001 1001110111 0101010001 1101010101 1111111101 1111111111 1101001111 0111010101 1011110101 1111011011 1110011111 1101010001 11101101101 11011001111
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1880
  • Average number of words per stanza: 345
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; for, he, and are repeated.

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

  • summary of A Tale, Founded On A Fact, Which Happened In January, 1779;
  • 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 Cowper