Not Trekking Down That Path by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Not Trekking Down That Path that begins with:

I can be sweet.
I can grit my teeth too....

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: abbca a XXbX d dedce XeXd deeXda
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 5,1,4,1,5,4,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1101 111111 1110111 0101010 10110101 11111101 0110111 11011011 1111 11101 11110011110 1011110 11001000101 00101 1100110 011110 11111 1011101 001 1111001010 111010101010 110101 10110101 110101110 11010 101010111000
  • Amount of stanzas: 7
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 110
  • Average number of words per stanza: 21
  • Amount of lines: 26
  • Average number of symbols per line: 29 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6

  • Mood of the speaker:

    There are many three dots in the poem. Readers should think of the author's idea together with the pensive speaker.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i, can, not are repeated.

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

    The author used the same words i, and 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 Not Trekking Down That Path;
  • 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

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