This is an analysis of the poem A Christmas Letter From Australia that begins with:

’T IS Christmas, and the North wind blows; ’t was two years yesterday
Since from the Lusitania’s bows I looked o’er Table Bay, ...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: Xabb bbcc ddaa bbee ffee aagg bbhh iijj kkaa jjll
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 1010101111110101 100101001111101 01010101010001 01010101011101 101010111011111 11110101110101 1111010111010010 11010010110111010 11011101010101 11011101010101 11010101010111 111100011100101 010111111110101 11110111110101 11010001010101 11011101010101 110110101110101 11011101010101 101101010111011 01011100010001 00110101001001 01010101011001 01010101110101 11010101101101 11111100110101 1101101111110001 11110111111101 010101001011101 110110001110111 11110101110101 11111111110101 110100101110101 11111101111101 110010101010101 11011101110101 01010111110001 11011111111011 100101010101001 11101111110101 11011001111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 249
  • Average number of words per stanza: 47
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 62 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 12
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, you, i, on, your, this, to are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word t 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 Christmas Letter From Australia;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen