This is an analysis of the poem St Vincent's that begins with:

Thinking of rain clouds that rose over the city
on the first day of the year...

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: ab cX bde fcdgaeh ijklX jmn obggpk eodngbohnb gepimdiegiaigejaea phhefiXjXam efbbbbji klXg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,2,3,7,5,3,6,10,18,11,8,4,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 100111110010 1011001 0011 101011111010 1101101 10010110110 0111111 011101110 1101 1110100101 110001101 010100 010001010 001001 010010001010 101010101101 101011 01111010 1010101 11010 1101101 11011 11111 1011111011 111 10111001011 111111 101 11101011110100 1111101 11101 10101001 11111 110110111 100010111010111 01001 0010110100101 11111001 111010101101 0101110 101100 1011100110101 1 11111 11011001 1010010010 010101111 1101 011110110 111010010111 0010010111 1010011001101 101111011 110011010 01010110011000 10110100 1011010001 1011001 111001 1111011 110010011110 10111 1101010101 00100101 101010110 10110010110 0101 11110111010011 1100010111101010 11 1111011100101 01 100001001 00101 101001010 11010110110 1111111010 11110
  • Amount of stanzas: 13
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 199
  • Average number of words per stanza: 36
  • Amount of lines: 78
  • 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; i, in, and, they are repeated.

    The author used the same words i, and 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 St Vincent's;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by William Stanley Merwin