This is an analysis of the poem Red Riding Hood that begins with:

On the wide lawn the snow lay deep,
Ridged o’er with many a drifted heap;... 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: aabbccdd eeffgghhggiiiihh ccjjffhhh jjXXddcc ffeegghhkkcccc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,16,9,8,14,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 10110111 110100101 01110111 01011111 11010101 01011101 1101111 01110101 01011101 01010101 01010111 10011101 01011101 01010101 11010101 01011101 01010101 11000101 11110111 10010111 01010101 01111111 11011111 11110101 11010101 11000101 01110101 11010101 110010101 11010101 11000111 01011101 01010101 11111101 01010111 11010110 11001101 11111111 01110101 10011110 11101101 11110101 110100101 10010101 01010101 11010011 01110100 11011111 11000101 01110101 11011101 11010111 01010111 10110110 01001101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 392
  • Average number of words per stanza: 75
  • Amount of lines: 55
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (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; her, and, come, s are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words the, come are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same words snow, hood 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 Red Riding Hood;
  • 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 Greenleaf Whittier