This is an analysis of the poem The Shower that begins with:

The landscape, like the awed face of a child,
Grew curiously blurred; a hush of death... 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 acXc XXdX dddd eaea
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 0111011001 1100010101 1101100101 010101 11001010111 10010010001 0101001100 011111 0101110110 1100110101 01001011101 010100 0101110101 1110010101 0101011101 0100101 11100011101 1001010001 1101110111 100101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 157
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 38 (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; of is 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 The Shower;
  • 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