Barefoot by Anne Sexton: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Barefoot that begins with:

Loving me with my shoes off
means loving my long brown legs, ...

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: XaabXccdefabag XdeXfXgXadXdhXXaah
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 14,18,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1010111 1101111 111011 1111110 1101101001 111101 1111111 1110111 110011010 101010101010 11111111 101110010 0100101010 101111 1011111 0011011 011010010 10111110 111111010 11101101 11110111 110111 1011111 010010101 111111 11111 1111111 0010110101 00101011 11111010 11111101 1101111101
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 536
  • Average number of words per stanza: 106
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 33 (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; my, and, i, me are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words all, no, now are repeated.

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

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

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Anne Sexton

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