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

When I got to his marker, I sat on it,
like sitting on the edge of someone's bed ...

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: abacdaabcefXedghifhjjhkkjckcalXcXmmlXhgiad
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 42,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11100101110 1101010111 111011010 111101111 11001010001 1011101 1110010110 10101101 1100110011101 1110001001 11100010100 1111011 0110011 110001001 0111101001 1101111 11010110111 110011010 110100110 0110100010 1101010 11010101001 011101101 101110101 11011101 1001011 1000101 0011 11110101110 111111101 0111110100 1111111 11110100 0010100110 101010110010 1000101010 11110100 1011010010 1110101101 111011110101 101110111 0100010
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1570
  • Average number of words per stanza: 307
  • Amount of lines: 42
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (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; i, and, his, of, on are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of One Year;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Sharon Olds