This is an analysis of the poem The Chameleon that begins with:

As the Chameleon, who is known
To have no colours of his own,... 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: aabbccddeeccaaffgghh ee eeiiXXcc ccjjeiaa iiXekk
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 20,2,8,8,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 100100101 01110001 11000101 01110111 11110101 11011011 10011001 10111011 10111111 01010111 11000101 00010101 01110001 11010111 11010011 11000101 01100101 11010101 111111011 100101111 110101010 010101010 0100101 11110011 111101001 11010011 010101110 11110101 01011101 110100101 10000101 01111111 11111101 11000111 11110111 11000101 110101010 111101010 10111101 11100101 1111010010 01111110 00010101 11011101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 309
  • Average number of words per stanza: 58
  • Amount of lines: 44
  • Average number of symbols per line: 34 (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; his, they, him are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word he is repeated.

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines him is repeated).

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

  • summary of The Chameleon;
  • 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 Prior