This is an analysis of the poem What They Found In The Snow that begins with:

Sifting, sifting, sifting,
Till all the black street was clean ; ...

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: ab abC dad bebeC fgf ah ahC eae ab ab CdXgd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,3,3,5,3,2,3,3,2,2,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 101010 1101111 101010 1101111 110010110 101101001 011110010110 11011011 11011011 01001101 0100101011 101001001 110010110 01101011 011010011010 01001101 101010 11010101 101010 01001001 110010110 01101011 111010110010 01111111 101010 01101001 101010 11101111 110010110 0111001 10010110010 11111011
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 97
  • Average number of words per stanza: 17
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (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; drifting, sifting, on, dying, sighing, and, growling, prowling are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word the is repeated.

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

  • summary of What They Found In The Snow;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Robert Kirkland Kernighan