This is an analysis of the poem Before A Crucifix that begins with:

Here, down between the dusty trees,
At this lank edge of haggard wood,... 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: ababcc aaaaaa deXeff ghghee adadaX ieieff ajajkk bkbkff eaeaii aaeadd bkbkbX adadkk lklkbb bmbmaa kdkdnn kdkdbb dadadd bababb dkdkhh ddddnn hahaaa kekeff eaeabb dddddd khXhff ededff ekeXkk efefii XnXnll fbfbkk obobee fhfhbb khkhXc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11010101 10110101 10011101 01111101 11111111 101100101 01110101 11010101 01010111 01111111 111101001 110111011 10010101 10010011 11011110 11110101 11111111 11110101 01101111 11010101 11111101 01111101 11110111 11110011 01101111 11010111 101100001 10110111 10110101 11011100 01101111 11010111 11110111 11010101 01101110 11110111 011100101 11011111 11111111 11110011 11110101 00111001 10011011 011101010 11110111 111101010 11111111 11110101 110100111 11010011 11101111 11101111 01111111 01110101 0111111 10010111 110010011 00110111 11111101 11001101 01001111 11110101 11011101 10111101 110000111 010111100 01011101 10111101 11010111 11010111 11111101 11101001 11110111 01011101 10111101 110110001 01110111 11110111 11110111 10111111 11110101 11011101 11111111 01010111 101101010 11010101 1001001110 11110101 10111111 11011101 11010101 11110101 11011111 11011001 10001101 01010001 11011001 11110111 11110101 01010101 11111101 10011101 01010001 11001111 011101001 11001001 01010101 11010101 11010111 11110101 10111011 11010100 10010111 11011101 01010111 11011111 11011111 11110101 010001001 11111011 11000101 11110101 100011101 11010101 11010111 01001100 11110111 11011100 11110100 11101101 11100111 11111101 110011101 01110111 01000101 100010101 11000101 01010101 01110111 01010011 11000101 11110111 101100111 001100100 100111110 10111111 11111100 111100011 11111111 10111101 11111011 11111101 11010111 01011111 11110100 10001101 01110111 11111111 00100111 11100100 11011111 11111101 010110011 101101011 11011101 010111111 111111001 11011111 110101100 001100101 011100110 10111101 11011100 10110111 11111101 110100111 11010101 01010001 11011011 11110001 11111111 111101101 11110101 01011111 11111111 01000101 11110101 11011101 11101110 11110101 11111111 001100101 10111101 01101001 11110101 01110111 110101110 11011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 33
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 222
  • Average number of words per stanza: 41
  • Amount of lines: 198
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, thy, for, o, of, not, to, thou are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words hast, thy, they, and, o, as, what are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Before A Crucifix;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Algernon Charles Swinburne