This is an analysis of Enigma by Anna Laetitia Barbauld.

TO THE LADIES
Hard is my stem and dry, no root is found…

Read full poem

Structure

  • Rhyme scheme: a bbccaaddeebb eeffbbggff
  • Stanza lengths: 1,12,10,
  • Metre: 0010 1011111101 0101010001 10110010101 010010110101 11001010101 1011110101 0101011101 1001010001 0101110101 0101010001 11011100111 1101011101 0101111101 1111011111 11110101001 1101011101 1101011101 0111010101 1111010101 1001110101 1101110101 01111110111
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Stanzas: 3
  • Lines: 23

Repeated words/phrases

and

Anaphora

and