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

A little oak leaf tore off from its branch
Was driven o'er the steppe by a cruel gale;...

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: XXXa abbc XXXd XdbX bbbb cXbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0101111001 110100110101 1111000101110 01001010111 0111110111 010011011 101111001 1001011001001 01001101011 1011101010 1100110110111 01011100111 1101100101101 011110010110 11100100111001 1110100101100 1011111001101 10110110110011011 11101111111111 01001111011 110001111101001 010101111111 1111001001 011010110110
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 200
  • Average number of words per stanza: 37
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 49 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; without is repeated.

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

    The author used the same word a at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

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

  • summary of The Leaf;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov