This is an analysis of the poem A Year Ago that begins with:

I'm sitting by the fire tonight,
The cat purrs on the rug;...

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: ababXb ccccdc ededfX afafXf gagafa
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 6,6,6,6,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 010101001 011101 01100101 100111 11110111 010011 11000101 100101 111000001 110101 11111111 110101 11110001 1111001 01010111 011111 01010101 1111010 11011111 010101 11011101 111101 00110111 100101 01111100 010001 01010100 110101 11110111 110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 254
  • Average number of words per stanza: 44
  • Amount of lines: 31
  • Average number of symbols per line: 32 (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; and is 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 A Year Ago;
  • 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 William Service