This is an analysis of the poem December that begins with:

No more the scarlet maples flash and burn
Their beacon-fires from hilltop and from plain; ... 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: aaaa bXXc dede fcfX ghgh baba gigiXbebe
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101010111 11010011101 0111010111 0011110101 0111111101 0101110101 0111010100 1111010101 1001011111 1101010101 11010011101 1101010101 1111010101 1011100101 1001011111 10010101000 1101011101 0101011111 1101110111 0101010101 1101110111 1011110111 1111110111 1101010101 1111010101 11011001001 1111010101 1100010111 0101110101 1111010001 1000110001 1101010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 173
  • Average number of words per stanza: 31
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 42 (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 is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of December;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Christopher Pearse Cranch