This is an analysis of the poem The Words Under The Words that begins with:

for Sitti Khadra, north of Jerusalem
My grandmother’s hands recognize grapes, ...

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: a bcdae XXXcbeefXcg fhXghggdd XbXaeee
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 1,5,11,9,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: rima
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 11010100100 111011011 01100111 11111101 1100110010 10011111 111011101 011110110 11101010011 1001100101 10010011010 1111101001 11110101 11010010 111101000100 10000101101 001101 111011101010 100111101010 110101101 0100110111011 11111010 1100101 01111110 11001100011 101011011 1110111001011001 1110010101101 111010010101010 10011111010001 10011011001 101001010010110 1000111110101
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 297
  • Average number of words per stanza: 54
  • Amount of lines: 33
  • Average number of symbols per line: 44 (strings are more long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 8
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

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

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word when is repeated.

    The author used the same word my 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 The Words Under The Words;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Naomi Shihab Nye