This is an analysis of the poem The Little Match Girl that begins with:

It was biting cold, and the falling snow,
Which filled a poor little match girl's heart with woe,... full text

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: aabX ccbb bbdd eefc fXee gghh eeff Xdee aaggXeegg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 0110110101 11011011101 111000110001110101 101011101111001110 111111101 101111101 11110011000101 100101100101101 10101111011111 101111111 111111101011 11010101101 011110110001 1001001110111 0110001001 11011000111001 1111011011011 110010100111110 0111101110011 101101101101 0110110010011 1010110111 1110010111011 1011100111 1111010101 1110011001 110100001011 11011101101 11100110110 101010101 1111110101101 1011111001001 0101111001 11010101110101 11001110101 0111111011001 0110100100101001 101110001110101 111011010010101 0101110101101
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 210
  • Average number of words per stanza: 40
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 52 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; she, of, and, to, home, her are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of The Little Match Girl;
  • 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 Topaz McGonagall