This is an analysis of the poem Cleaning Up One's Backyard that begins with:

Cleaning up one's backyard,
May take more than a rake....

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: Ab Ab Aba XbXXccac
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 2,2,3,8,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: limerick
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: rondeau
  • Metre: 101111 111101 101111 101111111 101111 1010101101 01000010001 111101010 01 0100111110 01 111111001 01100001 1100001 101
  • Amount of stanzas: 4
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 110
  • Average number of words per stanza: 20
  • Amount of lines: 15
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The author used the same word cleaning 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 Cleaning Up One's Backyard;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lawrence S. Pertillar