This is an analysis of the poem When I Was A Negro that begins with:

I remember the days when I was a Negro...
Free to go about where Negros go....

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: XXabacdXcedXbXbbbffXXcXeXd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 26,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101001111010 101011101 11010 01001111111 11011 01011001 001011101 100111011 010110101 0101101000100 1010111 1010 11101 11001 111001 1100111 1101001 11111111001 1111111001 01010101000 111011000 111 01 1101 00111 1111001
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 805
  • Average number of words per stanza: 143
  • Amount of lines: 26
  • Average number of symbols per line: 30 (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; we, and are repeated.

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

  • summary of When I Was A Negro;
  • 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