Just Walking Around by John Ashbery: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Just Walking Around that begins with:

What name do I have for you?
Certainly there is not name for you...

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: aabc Xcdc bXXX XcdX XceeX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: couplets
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1111111 100101111 00110111 1111011001 11001010001 11110101 10101001011 01111001 10010110 01001010 11011110 1001011101101 101010010101 011101101 1111001000010 1110101 0100011101110 10101110011 110 111110 10111111111110
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 156
  • Average number of words per stanza: 31
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • Average number of symbols per line: 36 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; that is repeated.

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

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

    The poet repeated the same word around 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 Just Walking Around;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by John Ashbery

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