This is an analysis of the poem A Saint that begins with:

THE stir of children with fresh dresses on,
And men who meet and say unguarded words,...

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: abXc dbeX cbfg fXgX fXfd gbgX ebfb baXb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 0101001101 1111110101 110001 010001 1101110111 110101010110 110100 111100 1111110101 1101110011 010100 100111 0110001110 110011101 111111 110011 0101010101 1001010101 111001 110011 1011111111 01011111001 111101 111101 101111011 10110011101 101011 110101 11110101110 11010001001 101101 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 8
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 141
  • Average number of words per stanza: 26
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; and is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of A Saint;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Padraic Colum