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

The watchfires died away from the bivouac on the hill,
And o'er the mountain-tops the dawn crept cold and slow,...

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 ebeb eXeX fgfgXdbdb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01001010010101 1100101011111 100101010101 1101111010001 1111111010111 0101011010101 110101010001 111111010101 10101010010101 10101011010111 1110101110101 10101010010001 101111110101 10100011110011 1101110011111 1110011010001 11101010101 1001011111100 1110011010101 00101011010101 101011010101 10111010101 10101011010101 1110101110111 101010111101 1011100100101 101110010001 111011010001
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 226
  • Average number of words per stanza: 41
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 56 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, on, down are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Cicely Fox Smith