This is an analysis of the poem Mary, The Maid O' The Tay that begins with:

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Tay,
Whaur me and my Mary oft did stray;... 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: Aaaa aaaX aabb aaaa AaXb XXaa ccaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11111101 111110101 1110111101 11111101001101 011110100101 1011101101001 11011110001 101111010011010 11010101 11111111 11111111 01111101 11010101 11111111 011111011 110001101101 11111101 011011101 11111111 11111101 11011011001 1110111111 1111101110001 1001101001 11011111 01011111 11111111 11101001101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 159
  • Average number of words per stanza: 34
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 39 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; and, o', ye are repeated.

    The author used the same word oh 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 tay is repeated).

    The poet repeated the same word tay 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 Mary, The Maid O' The Tay;
  • 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 Topaz McGonagall