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

It is ten years, now, since we rowed to Children's Island.
The sun flamed straight down that noon on the water off Marblehead....

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: aabbXcdcc defXabbXX ghXcdhcba edcababfa igehbdXia
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 9,9,9,9,9,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 0010111101010 011111110101101 110111100111 10111001111010110 001111010010 1011010010011110010 11010011001010111 1010111011010101 101001 101100101101 0010010010100010 10101111011011010 11101101110011 1110110010001101 001001101001010111 101011010101110110 11101111101100 101100 01101110101 110110101101010010101 1011011101010010 101011011001101 10110101011001 10111111001101 011111110111110 1100100111101010 11110 1111101110 1111010111101 110010110110001011 11011111111 011101011001010010 11101001001010 010001010110100 111010101011010 1101 0111101101 11110111101 1110111100010 1111011111 111101101000111 11111111111 01100101111001 1011001001111 101110
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 494
  • Average number of words per stanza: 93
  • Amount of lines: 45
  • Average number of symbols per line: 54 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 10
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; we, in, and, she are repeated.

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

  • summary of The Babysitters;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Sylvia Plath