This is an analysis of the poem For Zbigniew Herbert, Summer, 1971, Los Angeles that begins with:

No matter how hard I listen, the wind speaks
One syllable, which has no comfort in it--...

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: abX bcbdX cedda aXXaf XfecXX XXbXX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,5,5,5,6,5,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11011110011 11001111000 10010011011 10101100111101 11100101001 101000010111 1101001010010 0100010011010 111100011101 1111101100 1101101111101 111110111010 1111010110010 1111110110 110100110101 010110101001 11110101111 11111101011 1001111101 101110110001 11101010101110 11101110110 01110111010 010111010010 11111100101 1101101100101 1011101011110 0111111101 11010011011
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 154
  • Average number of words per stanza: 30
  • Amount of lines: 32
  • Average number of symbols per line: 43 (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; it, and are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words he, and, maybe are repeated.

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

  • summary of For Zbigniew Herbert, Summer, 1971, Los Angeles;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Larry Levis