This is an analysis of the poem Song Of Myself, XLVII that begins with:

I am the teacher of athletes,
He that by me spreads a wider breast than my own proves the width of my own,... 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: abc deXaXXb fcg dXX ae efX ff XfagXbgfdbfeg
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,7,3,3,2,3,2,13,
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Metre: 11010011 111110101111101011 11101111100001010 011101010111011010011 1010110010010011 10011100101 1010110110111111 1101010101101010101111011 010110111010011101100 111101111001 111001111101 110101011000110 111111111010 1111111010101101111101 001101111111110101 1011010010010 11101001101110101 1111010011111100110110010100101 011101110011101 01010110101011100101 01010111011 11011111001 11110101011 01010010011111 010110111011110111 0111000110101011 01011111110100110110 01011010101 1011010101011111110 1110101011111111 111001011111010010 0101001111010010 011011101011 011011010010101111 111110111110
  • Amount of stanzas: 9
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 255
  • Average number of words per stanza: 51
  • Amount of lines: 35
  • Average number of symbols per line: 65 (very long strings)
  • Average number of words per line: 13
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; own, my, to, or, and, from, i, you, as, me, with are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words he, i, the, on are repeated.

    The author used the same words i, the at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word them at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

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

  • summary of Song Of Myself, XLVII;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Walt Whitman