Not Heaving From My Ribb'D Breast Only by Walt Whitman: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem Not Heaving From My Ribb'D Breast Only that begins with:

NOT heaving from my ribb'd breast only;
Not in sighs at night, in rage, dissatisfied with myself;... 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: abcddefgfadXXXcXgXebcc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 22,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: shakespearean sonnet
  • Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 110011110 10111010101011 101111101 10101111010 101101101010 10010100001 10010110111011 1001001010101011011 1 10100101100110 1011010010110110 011 101010111 1010110011001101 1 10010011111 101010010100101001 100111001101111011 0100011 1010110011000011011 1111011110101101 1
  • Amount of stanzas: 1
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 1137
  • Average number of words per stanza: 184
  • Amount of lines: 22
  • Average number of symbols per line: 51 (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; not, in, and, words, of are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words not, nor are repeated.

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

  • summary of Not Heaving From My Ribb'D Breast Only;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

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