This is an analysis of the poem At Candle-Lightin' Time that begins with:

When I come in f'om de co'n-fiel' aftah wo'kin' ha'd all day,
It 's amazin' nice to fin' my suppah all erpon de way;...

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: aabb aaXX XXaa X XXXX cXcc XcbX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,1,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111010111010111 0110010111011001 1011010101010001 1011010101010111 1110101010101001 1010101101010001 111010101010101 11101110101101010 101010101110101 1110101101010101 111111001010101 101010101110101 11111010111110 1 111100101110011 1101110101111101 111101101011111111 1101111101010111 111010101111011111 11111110111011101 10111010111111101 111111111110101 111111101010101 111110101011101 111011111111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 213
  • Average number of words per stanza: 45
  • Amount of lines: 25
  • Average number of symbols per line: 59 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 13
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; de, it, to, 's, an', dey, i, dat are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of At Candle-Lightin' Time;
  • 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 Laurence Dunbar