This is an analysis of the poem On the Occurrence of a Spell of Arctic Weather in May, 1858 that begins with:

WE thought that Winter with his hungry pack
Of hounding Winds had closed his dreary chase,- ... 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: abbaaccadededX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 14,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: sonnet with iambic pentameter or irregular meter
  • Metre: 1111000101 0101110101 11001010101 100101101001 11011010101 1111010101 1111010101 0111010101 0101010111 1011001101 101011101001 110100101010 11010101101 110101110010
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 721
  • Average number of words per stanza: 110
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 51 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; his is repeated.

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

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

  • summary of On the Occurrence of a Spell of Arctic Weather in May, 1858;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Paul Hamilton Hayne