This is an analysis of the poem In A Dark Time that begins with:

In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade; ...

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: abbaccdefdgg XccXhhXeaafbb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,13,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0011010101 11111001001 11110001001 0101010001 1101010101 1001110001 1101010001 11010101110 1101000101 1111010101 1101010001 10101010111 0101010000 0110010101 1011011101 0111011110 1001001101 110011001001 11111101010 11111100101 1101011101 0101111011 0110011101 1101100101
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 333
  • Average number of words per stanza: 65
  • Amount of lines: 24
  • Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; in, of, my, i are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words i, a are repeated.

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

  • summary of In A Dark Time;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Theodore Roethke