This is an analysis of the poem A Christmas Eve that begins with:

GOOD fellows are laughing and drinking
(To-night no heart should grieve),... full text

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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  • Rhyme scheme: ababacaCdedebfbf Xfcfghgh aiXijfjf gkgkcece ahahjlXl gfgfdede XgfgfeceC
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 16,8,8,8,8,8,9,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 010110110 011111 11101110 011101 11001110 010111 11011110 110011 11011110 111101 11110110 110101 1001010 100111 01110010 010101 11001100 1111101 11010110 1111011 11111010 010111 01111010 110101 11000110 0100111 11001010 0100101 11110010 1100111 11111010 0100111 10111110 1100101 10001010 1111011 01010010 1100111 01001110 1100001 11110010 111111 11101010 100101 1101111 0110101 11101110 1101111 11001010 1110101 1011010 1100101 11101010 1101001 11110110 110101 01110110 111101 11001010 011101 1011010 101101 11001010 110011
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 295
  • Average number of words per stanza: 51
  • Amount of lines: 65
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • 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; old, of, i are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of A Christmas Eve;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Victor James Daley