Poem Analysis of The Breast by Anne Sexton for close reading

This is an analysis of the poem The Breast that begins with:

This is the key to it.
This is the key to everything....

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: abX cdX adb caa eff cXg fcX XXX fda aX hXc hgf edbXf
Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,2,3,3,5,
Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
Сlosest stanza type: tercets
Guessed form: ballad stanza
Metre: 000100 00010101 100 11110100010 101111 11110101 11111110 111011011 01010101010 001111100010 0011111101 1111111101 1001011001 1110010011 110011011 01011001 1100100 10100001101 101101101101 1101011001 1101111001 111011 11111001 100111 100011110110 1101001011 110001 11111011011110101 110111101 1110100010 01101111010 1101010011 1111011111010 1100110010 1000100101 110101111101 111011111 011001100 1101101
Amount of stanzas: 14
Average number of symbols per stanza: 103
Average number of words per stanza: 20
Amount of lines: 39
Average number of symbols per line: 36 (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; i, your, here are repeated.
The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words this, it, i are repeated.
The author used the same word i at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.
The literary device anadiplosis is detected in two or more neighboring lines. The word/phrase bones connects the lines.

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

summary of The Breast;
central theme;
idea of the verse;
history of its creation;
critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

Pay attention: the program cannot take into account all the numerous nuances of poetic technique while analyzing. We make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability with respect to the information.

The Breast by Anne Sexton: poem analysis

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

More information about poems by Anne Sexton