This is an analysis of the poem A Portrait that begins with:

LIKE the sway of the silver birch in the breeze of dawn
Is her dainty way; ... 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: ababcXcX adaddede
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1010010100101 00101 1010011110101 10101 10101101 00111 1110111 00100 1100100110101 101001 111011110101 10101 10100101 01101 1110111 00111
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 274
  • Average number of words per stanza: 56
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; of is repeated.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Edith Nesbit