This is an analysis of the poem To The United States Senate that begins with:

And must the Senator from Illinois
Be this squat thing, with blinking, half-closed eyes? ... full text

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: AbXb Acdc defe afXf cXXX afcf cgbg bbbb adbd baeX
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 1101000101 0011010111 01010101010 0101010001 1101000101 0011000101 10011111111 1101110101 0111010111 0111010101 0001011110 1101110111 1101000101 0100011101 11101001010 0101010111 0111011101 1101111101 11111010011 11110111010 1011011101 1101010101 11110010101 0101010001 0001010111 0101011111 11010011101 1001111101 1101011101 1101110101 1101010101 11010100111 1101010001 11010011111 1101010011 1101101111 1101010101 1011000101 10111110111 10011101110
  • Amount of stanzas: 10
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 177
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • 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; his, and, when, our are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words when, our are repeated.

    The author used the same word and 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 To The United States Senate;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Vachel Lindsay