A Summer Afternoon by James Whitcomb Riley: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem A Summer Afternoon that begins with:

A languid atmosphere, a lazy breeze,
With labored respiration, moves the wheat... 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: abab cdcd dcdc edeX baba cccc dfdf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0101010101 0101010101 0101010101 10110111 1101001101 1101000101 1101010101 1000010101 1101110001 0111000101 0101010101 111101 0101110011 1100110101 0101010101 10111010 0101110011 1001000101 0101110101 01000110101 0100100101 1101010101 1101010111 1001010101 1100110101 0111111101 1101110001 10101101010101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 165
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 28
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; through, coo, i are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word the is 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 A Summer Afternoon;
  • 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 Whitcomb Riley

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