This is an analysis of the poem A Grave In The Sunshine that begins with:

His was a chance to make his grave
'Neath the storied altar high ; ...

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: X ab ac bc b d dc de fe f g gf gd be b X hg hb bX b f ae aa bg X
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,2,1,1,2,2,2,1,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rondeau rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 01010101 1010101 1011100101 11101111 011100101 011001001 1110110111 10100111 111100101 1100101 110010111 11100111 110100101 11101101 1101110101 00110111 1110111 011111 110101111 1111101 1111100101 0101001 111100111 10100111 10010101 1101101 1101110 00100101 111100011 00111001 111100101 00110111 0100110101 0010111 1110100101 11110101 100110111 10110111 11101100111 10111111
  • Amount of stanzas: 25
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 58
  • Average number of words per stanza: 11
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 37 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; his, he, who are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words and, his at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of A Grave In The Sunshine;
  • 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 Kirkland Kernighan