This is an analysis of the poem To the 51st Division:High Wood, July-August 1916 that begins with:

Oh gay were we in spirit
In the hours of the night... 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: aaaabcDc ebXbfgDg ebXbfhdh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1101010 0010001 11101110 110101 111001 1011111 1101010 0010001 01100010 110111 1111010 0011111 1101011 0011010 1101010 1010010 0010010 0010001 0111010 011101 10011111 1010101 101010 001001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 224
  • Average number of words per stanza: 45
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 27 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; in, broken are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words in, the, by are repeated.

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

  • summary of To the 51st Division:High Wood, July-August 1916;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ewart Alan Mackintosh