This is an analysis of the poem Sporting Life that begins with:

The trouble with comparing a poet with a radio is that radios don’t develop scar-tissue. The tubes burn out, or with a transistor, which most souls...

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: XXXXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: cinquain
  • Metre: 010001001000101011011010111011110001011110100110111110011110011111010001010 111010001001111011001011111100100 11111111001010011101101010011001001001111111000 010001010100010010001000101 11100111101110111100
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 756
  • Average number of words per stanza: 142
  • Amount of lines: 5
  • Average number of symbols per line: 150 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 28
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; or, poet, with, that, in, not, too, radio are repeated.

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

  • summary of Sporting Life;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Jack Spicer