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

Lying in bed this morning, just a year
Since our first days, I was trying to assess --...

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: a b c b a d e e f d f d f X g g h h h h h h b b e g X g e g h h d c b c d c h h d X d i d i cXc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1001010101 11111110001 011100101010 11011101100 11001000101 10001011100 1111010001 01001010111 1001011110110 01110101111 1101010111100 1001111101 110101111110 010100111100000 001101101011 01001110101 110100111010 1011010101 10111010110 0001010101 11011110110 100110110011 1101011101 01001010101 1110100101 100101010001 1001111100 011101001001 0100111001 1110101100001 1110111001 0110101001 1101000101 101010010010 001001010001 100100011110 011101001001 111101010010 011101110001 10010011101 11001111011 1111111011 1001110101 1001001111 11111100101 1111110101 111100001010 00111111010
  • Amount of stanzas: 48
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 44
  • Average number of words per stanza: 8
  • Amount of lines: 48
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • 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, my, to are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word 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 A Letter;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Anne Barbara Ridler