Natural Disasters by David Wagoner: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Natural Disasters that begins with:

Long ago, we had to admit, in acquisitive English
the Romans knew what they were talking about...

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: XabbXacXXXbXcbccXba
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 19,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101110010010010 01011101001 111010010101 1100100101010 100110101000 00010011011 10010011010 1111110100011 111000100010 100110011 110111101010 011011000110 0101110111 10010100001 1101111100 11010001010 110111010 101011011 101111101011
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 846
  • Average number of words per stanza: 150
  • Amount of lines: 19
  • 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 is 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 Natural Disasters;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by David Wagoner

Poems about...
✕