This is an analysis of the poem Once that begins with:

Hungry and cold, I stood in a doorway
on Delancey Street in 1946...

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: XXaXbcdeacXfXgX hdfeageijXfjgai kblliXXheaeXeXk
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 15,15,15,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1011110011 1100101 1011101100 010011011110 11111100011 11010001011 0111101010 1101101010 0100111101 1101101001 0010011101 00111001 1100101011 00110100001 0010110110100 11010111111 0100110110 1101010111 010010110 01011001001 0101010011 01010111101 1110011111 01001010110 10010011011 11001010101 00101001111 011011001 00110101101 11110000100 11101110001 01001101010 10100101010 001111010010 1110100110111 1111100101 10111 10101101001 11001111101 101010100111 01100101011 10110101 01101101011 101111010 10001101001
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 604
  • Average number of words per stanza: 115
  • Amount of lines: 45
  • Average number of symbols per line: 39 (medium-length strings)
  • 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; you, once, my are repeated.

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

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Philip Levine