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

Cool is the wind, for the summer is waning,
Who 's for the road?...

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: aBaBcccB aBXBaaab dBdbdddB
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 10011010010 11101 110111011110 11101 11110011110 10010110010 00111010110 11101 11010010010 11101 10011010010 11101 10010110010 10010011110 10010011010 1101 110010011010 1001 11110011010 1001 11011110110 10111010010 10011110010 1001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 285
  • Average number of words per stanza: 56
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 35 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; for, and, from, to are repeated.

    The poet repeated the same word road at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of To The Road;
  • 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