This is an analysis of the poem A Tragic Story that begins with:

There lived a sage in days of yore,
And he a handsome pigtail wore; ... 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: aaab cccb DDdb eeeb fffb gggb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010101 11010101 110111001 0101011 110101001 11110101 11010101 11001011 11110011 11110011 11111111 1101011 11111110 11010101 01010101 0101011 11111101 11111011 11110101 1100011 11010101 11111111 01110001 0101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 140
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines found is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word him 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 Tragic Story;
  • 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 Makepeace Thackeray