This is an analysis of the poem Our First War-Christmas that begins with:

HARD to wait for the postman's tramp
Up the snowy walk, for the hand that gropes... 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: aXbbccababdeeddbeb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 18,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10110101 10101101110 100110101 1011100100 1101101101 111010101 00101 1110101 0010101 111011001 011101111 1101111001 01011101 010101101 1010100101 01101 1001101101 0011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 667
  • Average number of words per stanza: 118
  • Amount of lines: 18
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (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; for is repeated.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of Our First War-Christmas;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Katharine Lee Bates