This is an analysis of the poem Come Back Clean that begins with:

This is the song for a soldier
To sing as he rides from home... full text

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: abcbXded fceadddD ddfdXdXX D aeXefdfX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,1,8,
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 00011010 0111101 0010110101 1100101 10001010 0011111 01111011111 110111 1110010010 11101110 11001101011 01011010 101110010 11110111 10101111101 110111 11111110 1101111 1010111111 1111111 1011110110 1100101 11011001 01 110111 11101010 1100101 10101100101 1100101 101110010 1111111 00101101001 110111
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 275
  • Average number of words per stanza: 59
  • Amount of lines: 37
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word to 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.

    The poet repeated the same word clean at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Come Back Clean;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox