This is an analysis of the poem Excelsior that begins with:
The shades of night were falling fast,
As through an Alpine village passed... 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: aabbc ddeec aaffc ggggc aXhhc XXaac Xgiic ggbbcXhhiic
- Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,5,5,5,5,5,5,11,
- Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
- Сlosest rhyme: couplets
- Сlosest stanza type: tercets
- Guessed form: unknown form
- Metre: 01010101 11111101 01111111 01000101 0100 01110101 11010001 110101001 01001011 0100 01011101 011101111 01010101 10010101 0100 1010100111 1010010101 010100111 111100101 0100 10100101101 110101010 01100111 11110001 0100 100011101 0101010000 01010101 01011101 0100 11011100 01010101 10010101 01110101 0100 010010101 11000111 11000101 11000101 0100 10011111 10110011 10010111 01110101 0100
- Amount of stanzas: 9
- Average number of symbols per stanza: 166
- Average number of words per stanza: 27
- Amount of lines: 45
- Average number of symbols per line: 32 (medium-length strings)
- Average number of words per line: 5
Mood of the speaker:
There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.
The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and is repeated.
The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words a, beware are repeated.
The poet repeated the same word excelsior 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 Excelsior;
- central theme;
- idea of the verse;
- history of its creation;
- critical appreciation.
Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!
Pay attention: the program cannot take into account all the numerous nuances of poetic technique while analyzing. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information.
