This is an analysis of the poem Dover Beach that begins with:

The sea is calm to-night.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair... 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: abacdbdcbecfef gagdad hbXbbhXc giigaffaa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 14,6,8,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 010101 01010111 0101101101 1101010101 10011100101 1001010011 10001101 101101101 10110101 0101011111 11011011 0111110101 010010111 001010100 100101 1010010101 0001010111 0101001 11000101 1001010101 0101 1111011111 11010011010 111101 0101010101 010001 0011101101 11010001 111101 0101010111 0101110101 1100110011 1101011111 1101111111 1111110101 10010101011 110010111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 348
  • Average number of words per stanza: 66
  • Amount of lines: 37
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (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; and, so, nor are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Dover Beach;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Matthew Arnold