This is an analysis of the poem Ebony Life that begins with:

A frightening stillness will mark that day
And the shadow of streetlights and fire-alarms will exhaust the light...

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: abbacdbaeecXebccedXXXa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 22,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0100100111 10110101100100101 11010010100010 010101 0110101001011010 10101111001010110010 10101110 11011101 101010101 10111010101 11100101 001111011 00110011011110101 1010 1100101110010 001011011001101 101011 0101011010110010 0101111111111110 10110010111 1011000110101001 1101111011
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1082
  • Average number of words per stanza: 209
  • Amount of lines: 22
  • Average number of symbols per line: 48 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words the, we, it, that are repeated.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Robert Desnos