This is an analysis of the poem A Ballad Of Santa Claus that begins with:

Among the earliest saints of old, before the first Hegira,
I find the one whose name we hold, St. Nicholas of Myra:... 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: XXaa bbcc dXXe dXXX bbaX ccbb eebb aaXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 0101001010101100 110111111100010 010101110101010 010101001101010 0101010101010100 1101010011101010 110111011111010 110101011101110 110101110100010 110101011101010 1100111010101010 111101111101110 111101011101010 01011111111010100 11001010101001010 110101011101011 010100111111010 1101001011100110 1100111011111010 1111110111001000 110101111101010 110111011100010 11001110011001010 0101110101110010 110111011111010 110101110001010 11010010111001010 110101010111010 110101010101010 111101010101010 010101110101010 11101110011101000
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 253
  • Average number of words per stanza: 45
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 62 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; of, and, they, them, he are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of A Ballad Of Santa Claus;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Henry Van Dyke