This is an analysis of the poem Motherhood that begins with:

She sat on a shelf,
her breasts two bellies ...

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: Xabcdceeffcgfhfijaccekl alehXkkaXiXeXelcijkeXdXaad Xafeeaiikfblhecefbhgfc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 23,26,22,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11101 01110 101110 110101 10101 011101 01111 001110 0010010 01110 01010001 0111 11010 00111010 01010110 1010101 100101 0100101 0101001 0000111 1011011 11111 010010 11111 01110 1010111 11010 01110 1010001 10001 00101 1101 11001 001011010 10000101 1100101 1011 011110 11111 01101 0010101 1101 1111 10010 0111 11001010 1010101 11011 0101001 110110 01011 11001 11111 01101 0101010 100101 10101011 001111 111101 1110110 101010 010001 110101 10111 01011 11101 111010 1101011010 110111 11110 101
  • Amount of stanzas: 3
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 631
  • Average number of words per stanza: 107
  • Amount of lines: 73
  • Average number of symbols per line: 25 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 4
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

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

    The author used the same word she 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 Motherhood;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by May Swenson