This is an analysis of the poem By The Fireside : King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn that begins with:

Witlaf, a king of the Saxons,
Ere yet his last he breathed,... 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: abXc aded ffbf Xbab aghg caXa ceXe hbbb adXd aXcX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10010010 110111 00101010 010101 1010111110 1100101 11010010 1101101 1111110 110101 01101110 111001 11001010 110101 101001010 1110101 11001110 0010101 111101110 1010111 101010010 10100101 01000110 1110100 10110010 01100010 1011000 0101110 101110010 1010101 101001110 10101111 11001010 110101 01101010 1110101 1110110 0100110 11111010 11101110
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 130
  • Average number of words per stanza: 24
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • 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; to, and are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word they 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 By The Fireside : King Witlaf's Drinking-Horn;
  • 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 Wadsworth Longfellow