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

Sent to a friend who had complained that I was glad enough to see
him when he came, but didn't seem to miss him if he stayed away.... 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: aa bbbcbc dddXdX eXefef ggghgh iiiXif bbbjbj bbbkbk
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,6,6,6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1001110111110101 1111110101101101 11010111 01000111 111100101 01010 11010111 11110 11111101 10010101 10110011 11010 11110001 01110 11111101 1110010 11011101 11110 110101011 11010 11110101 11010111 11010111 11110 11000101 01010 01001101 01100101 11011101 1101 11010101 11000 10011111 110010001 01010111 01110 11111111 01010 11111111 01011101 01010111 01010 11011101 01010
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 171
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 44
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same word and 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 Valentine;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lewis Carroll