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

Thousands of sheep, soft-footed, black-nosed sheep--
one by one going up the hill and over the fence--one by...

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: XXabXXXcX bXcXXaXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 9,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1001110111 111101011100111 11101001110111100 11111101111 10111100011010000 1001111111110 101100000110 10110111111000 11011001 11011101001111 101010101010101 11101111110 10011110110010 00111011001110 11001000100110 11010000101010 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 428
  • Average number of words per stanza: 80
  • Amount of lines: 17
  • Average number of symbols per line: 50 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 9
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; one, by, and, of, i are repeated.

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

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

  • summary of Sheep;
  • 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