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

HERE by the gray north sea,
In the wintry heart of the wild,... 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: abab cdcd eded fafa daXa abAB eeee bgbg dada bcbc hfhf deXe idid hdhd jbjb abAB eheh cgcg gdgd abab fdfd cXcb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110111 00101001 101101 1001011 0100101 0010111 0101001 011101 111011 1011001 111101 0010101 1101001 110001 111101 110111 11101011 010111 101111 100111 111101 111011 101111 110111 1111001 111101 0110110 111101 1010101 1111011 110111 010101 110011 011101 011111 011101 110101 010111 101111 0010101 010011 110101 010101 010111 110111 100101 110100 110101 110011 110101 1100111 0100101 111111 001101 011101 1111001 111101 011011 010001 110111 110101 010111 101111 110111 110111 101001 11111011 101101 0101001 010101 0101001 110001 111101 101111 1011101 000101 1101101 101001 010101 1111011 010101 010101 1010111 100101 111101 0101100 10101011 0101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 22
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 110
  • Average number of words per stanza: 21
  • Amount of lines: 88
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words a, and, the are repeated.

    The author used the same words when, come 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 Northern Vigil;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Bliss William Carman