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

IF I had a million lives to live
and a million deaths to die...

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: XabcaXX cbXbdDD
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 7,7,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: sonnet with iambic trimeter or irregular meter
  • Metre: 011010101 1010101 0010111 110111 1101110011 11100111 110111001 11010111001 101111011 100101 101110101 11 11 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 224
  • Average number of words per stanza: 39
  • Amount of lines: 14
  • Average number of symbols per line: 31 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; million, to, and are repeated.

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

    There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines you is repeated).

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

  • summary of Humdrum;
  • 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