This is an analysis of the poem The Troubadour that begins with:

It was the Christmas of the year;
The wind blew chill, the night was drear;...

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: aXbbccXdeeffdd gghhccXh ggcc ffiXXfjjccaakkffhh llffaaXllii
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 14,8,4,18,11,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01010001 01110111 11011001 01011111 11010111 01011111 01010100 111101011 11010111 11010111 11010101 01010101 11011101 11010101 11110111 010101111 01011101 11011111 10111101 01011101 01110101 01001111 10110111 01111100 11110101 11110111 01011001 11010101 11010001 11101100 11011111 01011111 01011111 11010101 11010101 01010101 11111101 01011101 11100101 01110111 11010011 00011101 10010111 01010001 01000101 01011101 11000101 11010101 01010011 11010111 11110101 01110101 11010111 11000101
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 322
  • Average number of words per stanza: 61
  • Amount of lines: 54
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Dora Sigerson Shorter