This is an analysis of the poem Poem At The New Year that begins with:

Once, out on the water in the clear, early nineteenth-century twilight,
you asked time to suspend its flight. If wishes could beget more than...

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: abcb ddbeb XaXXcXdXcf dafbd eXddc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,5,10,5,5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111010001101110011 11100101010101111 1101111110110110 10001001101101100 101100101 11111101100010 01011000111011 101111111 10101111101 110010100010101100 11010010101001 01011110111010 111100011 111100010110 11010111111011 11111101010 0010110111111 011110111010110 11110101 1101110100101010 0100101010110101 11101010111000 110011110111 100010111001101 1110111010101001 01110101111 0111101101 10100110110 01011010101001010
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 311
  • Average number of words per stanza: 59
  • Amount of lines: 29
  • Average number of symbols per line: 53 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The author used the same word i 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 Poem At The New Year;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by John Ashbery