This is an analysis of the poem For The Last Wolverine that begins with:

They will soon be down
To one, but he still will be...

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: a bc defg e Xf Xgcd h ac fXga a ii hdhh e hc ffij i jk ibjc a hl afhX i Xc alai X Xi cffe X hk XXbf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,1,2,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 10101 0111100 1010110010 01001001 010010010 01001111 01110001 00101001 011110101 1111111 0110011010 1000101 11110101 011111 100010001 1001101 101011010 101101110 0101011 1111001 001010010 101110 01011110 1000101110 10010010010 011110010 101000010 11110111101 1110101111 011110 10101010 1101001 1100100100101 001001010 101111001 110010010 0101101 00100101010 10110101 011010101 1011101 111011101 10010110010 11111 1110101 101011010 1000100010101 1011101 1100110001 001110110 1110100 101010 01010111010 0100111011 10101001 11010101 010010011 0100101001 10010101 01001100 100101 0111001010 0100110001 010111111 1101110 11100110 1010 1111111 1
  • Amount of stanzas: 31
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 74
  • Average number of words per stanza: 14
  • Amount of lines: 69
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (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; be, of, it are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words on, the 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 For The Last Wolverine;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by James Dickey