This is an analysis of the poem Old Snake-Doctor that begins with:

Once I found an ant-lion's hole
And an ant-lion in it: nippers... 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: aXbaccc X dbbefff X feeffff X Xbbbggg d heXhfff d biibjjj X aeeaaaX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,1,7,1,7,1,7,1,7,1,7,1,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11111101 111100010 10101010 1110111 0011111 011101001 1010111 1 1111101 11111010 00101010 1100100 1111111 1101111 1001111 1 1000101 11110110 11101010 11111101 1111111 1111101 10011101 1 1110100 10111110 11101010 1111101 1001101 1111101 1111101 1 1011001 11101010 1111110 10111101 1100111 0010101 1010111 1 1010111 10111110 10111010 0010101 10011101 1001101 1010111 1 1010101 10111110 10001010 1110001 1110111 1011111 0011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 121
  • Average number of words per stanza: 23
  • Amount of lines: 55
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (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; ant, and are repeated.

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

  • summary of Old Snake-Doctor;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Madison Julius Cawein