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

The mare Alix breaks the world’s trotting record one day. I see her heels flash down the dust of an Illinois race track on a summer afternoon. I see...

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: a X X X XbaXbXXb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,1,1,1,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 011010110011111011101011011110101011101000111010101101100110110011011011011011 110110101110101111010100101101011101010110111011110101100101011 1101110101010011110111010101110111110111001 11010010101010001001101001011010010110100010110101100 1010111111010111111001 1101010 111000110 11111010 1011110 01101 1110111010100110
  • Amount of stanzas: 6
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 208
  • Average number of words per stanza: 41
  • Amount of lines: 11
  • Average number of symbols per line: 113 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 22
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, of, see, i, in, her, alix, grand, on, stand, record, world, one, s are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word i 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 Alix;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Carl Sandburg