This is an analysis of the poem States! that begins with:

STATES!
Were you looking to be held together by the lawyers?... 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: abb cbde fg cX chaebhih jigk gXk bjdd ajXa bXbdegX XbbXjbf
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,4,2,2,8,4,3,4,4,7,7,
  • Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: enclosed rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 1 01100010101010 110101010111 01 1011010110100111 10110101101010101 010 01101101 1110111010100 110111111 011101011111 1101001100101101 1 01101101010001 011110001101110 101101011 0101110010010010 111110100100 11100101000100100011 1010101011000100 10110110101001110001 0111100110110 10001 01001010010100 00100001011011 1001010110110011 11011010010 0100101101010111 010101001101101001 01001010111 010101001010001011 0110010 001010111010010101 1001 1101010 11010111001000 10100010100011 0001001111 11010001100110 1110100101001000 11 0110111110110 001001001010 00100001001011 111111011010 11001101111001010 11
  • Amount of stanzas: 12
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 206
  • Average number of words per stanza: 32
  • Amount of lines: 47
  • Average number of symbols per line: 53 (very long strings)
  • 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; by, be, you, me, and, of are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words it, one, to, the, there are repeated.

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

  • summary of States!;
  • 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