This is an analysis of the poem Sunday that begins with:

December 28, 1879
A dim, vague shrinking haunts my soul,...

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: X aabba cdccd efeXf fgffX deddX gdggX dedde fdffd cdccX ghggh bdbbd fiffi deddX jdjjd eceec kfkkf ebeeb lhllh mgmmg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 01011 01110111 110101 11110101 111101001 010111 101111001 110101 10111101 11010010 110111 01111001 111101 01110101 010101110 110101 010101001 110101 01111001 110011101 111100 10111101 101101 10010101 11010111 010100 01011101 1101011 11110001 11110111 111101 11111111 000101 01110101 11110101 010101 01010101 010101 11011101 01011101 110011 01110101 100111 01010101 01100101 010111 010011000 1101001 11010101 11010101 010101 01010111 110011 010010101 11001101 010101 01111111 111111 11111101 11110101 111101 01111101 110101 11001111 11001111 1111000 10010111 110100 01111111 11010111 100101 011001011 010011 01110101 01010101 010101 111101001 111101 111101101 11110101 1101000 01111101 111101 11010111 11011011 011111 01111111 111101 110100011 01011101 111001 11011111 111101 11001101 11111111 00101
  • Amount of stanzas: 20
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 145
  • Average number of words per stanza: 29
  • Amount of lines: 96
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (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; thy, of, that, i, not, live, me are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words this, a, but, my, i 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 Sunday;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by George MacDonald