This is an analysis of the poem Doc Sifers that begins with:

Of all the doctors I could cite you to in this-'ere town
Doc Sifers is my favorite, jes' take him up and down!... 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: aabb ccdd XXbb eeaa ffgg aahh Xeee iiaa cccec iicX iXacj ikkbX ggbb iihXXcjee
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,5,4,5,5,4,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: heroic couplets
  • Metre: 01010111100011 11001100111111 10010100110111 11010110110101 11111111110101 11110101110101 11110111110101 11101101110100 11011111110111 111101011010110 11110100010101 11001101010101 11111111110101 01010111111101 11010101011100 11110101010001 01011101010101 01110001010101 11010101010001 110101110101101 10010101110111 01010111100101 110101011111101 1010010111101011 11110101010100 11010100110110 010101111110111 011100011010001 11010100111111 0110101111001 11010101010011 010111010111101 11100101111101 11110101110101 11110001111111 11011011111111 1 111111111100111 1110101111101110 11110101010111 110101111111101 1111110111101101 11110101111011 1111110101011 1 110100101010101 0101111111011 1 11110101011111 11111111010111 010101010101010 11111111011001 11010101111001 11010011011111 11010111110101 11011101110101 11010111111101 11001101011111 11010101110110 11110101110011 11000100110101 11110101010101 11011101110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 15
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 245
  • Average number of words per stanza: 47
  • Amount of lines: 63
  • Average number of symbols per line: 58 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 11
  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many exclamation marks in the poem. The speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; and, his, er, i, her, ', to, all, far are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word but at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

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

  • summary of Doc Sifers;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by James Whitcomb Riley