This is an analysis of the poem Two Countries that begins with:

Skin remembers how long the years grow
when skin is not touched, a gray tunnel...

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: XaabXcXcdXXb dXdXeeXdd
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 12,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 101011001 110110110 0100101001 001101001 1011111101 01010111 110111010 11101111 011011011 0110111010 11010101001 1010100010011 1111111 110011101 11110110 110101101 10010101101 101110101 00101001111010 111100110110 10101
  • Amount of stanzas: 2
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 414
  • Average number of words per stanza: 77
  • Amount of lines: 21
  • Average number of symbols per line: 38 (medium-length strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 7
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; skin, that are repeated.

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

    The author used the same word skin 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 Two Countries;
  • 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