This is an analysis of the poem In The Smoking Car that begins with:

The eyelids meet. He'll catch a little nap.
The grizzled, crew-cut head drops to his chest. ...

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: abaX bcbc dede bfbf cgcg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0111110101 0101111001 0101011101 110110110010 101110011101 1101010101 1011010101 0101010001 1111110101 0101001101 1111011101 1101010101 0101011111 0101010111 1101111101 0001011111 01110100101 01010100001 1011010101 1001110110
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 181
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 20
  • Average number of symbols per line: 45 (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, he are 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 In The Smoking Car;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Richard Wilbur