This is an analysis of the poem Sam's Christmas Pudding that begins with:

It was Christmas Day in the trenches
In Spain in Penninsular War,...

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 defe gbXX hifX echc ccic dXja dfif ghjh cXXX XkeX XjaX ffgf jXXk hkjX dccc hlilXchjh
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 011010010 01010001 111010010 01111101 1010010110 11110001 1110111010 01011001 010010010 00101111 1010110100 011010010 01001111 11101011 1110110010 1001101011 110010010 01101001 111111010 11111001 111110010 11001011 1010010111 11001101 1010111010 101011100 1010111010 11101001 110011010 01001111 1010010010 11101011 110011010 01011111 1011011010 111001010 011111110 1111011 110111110 00111101 011111100 11101111 1100110010 01111001 111111010 11101101 111110110 110110010 111011010 11101011 111011010 11111101 110011010 11111101 010111010 11101011 011101010 11011101 111101010 111111011 111011010 101011101 0011111110 101011111 110011110 110101011 010010111 1110011 1110010010 01111001 1110011010 001011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 18
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 148
  • Average number of words per stanza: 28
  • Amount of lines: 72
  • 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; in, had, and, his, it, he are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words the, they, he, sam at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word ' 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 Sam's Christmas Pudding;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Marriott Edgar