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

Mother, I see you with your nursery light,
Leading your babies, all in white,... 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: aaaaA bbaba ccXXA ddadA bbXca eeaea
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,5,5,5,5,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10111011001 10110101 0111 1001010101 1101 1101111101 1100111111 1111 10100101111 1111 1101100111 111101001 1110 1101110101 1101 1110111101 110110101 1101 101101011 1101 111011101 110111001 0110 1101010100 11101 110101101 11111100 1101 11111111011 1001
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 162
  • Average number of words per stanza: 31
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; and is repeated.

    The author used the same word you at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word best at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Best;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Helen Hunt Jackson