This is an analysis of the poem The Golden West that begins with:

The star of empire takes its way
Towards the Golden West ; ...

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: a bX b bc dc ed Xd X eX e a da d X aXXa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,2,1,2,2,2,2,1,2,1,1,2,1,1,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 010100101 010101 11010001 010101 11011101 111101 110111001 0101001 1111110101 110101 11011111 011101 11011101 110101 11011100 010011 111110101 011101 11110101 010101 11110100 010101 00110100 010100
  • Amount of stanzas: 16
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 48
  • Average number of words per stanza: 9
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The author used the same words they, the 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 The Golden West;
  • 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