Poem Analysis of Bess by William Stafford for close reading

This is an analysis of the poem Bess that begins with:

Ours are the streets where Bess first met her
cancer. She went to work every day past the ...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

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Rhyme scheme: aXbXcXXXacd cabcXeddaeX
Stanza lengths (in strings): 11,11,
Closest metre: trochaic pentameter
Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
Сlosest stanza type: sonnet
Guessed form: unknown form
Metre: 110111110 101101100110 011010100110 101101101011 101110111 010011001 110101010 1101011011 01011111010 101100011 101101011 1111111 010111010 11101010110 11001011101 0111101111 1101111010 11101110010 1011111010 11100110001010 11010110 011011011111
Amount of stanzas: 2
Average number of symbols per stanza: 482
Average number of words per stanza: 89
Amount of lines: 23
Average number of symbols per line: 41 (medium-length 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; her, she are repeated.
The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words no, and are repeated.

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summary of Bess;
central theme;
idea of the verse;
history of its creation;
critical appreciation.

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Bess by William Stafford: poem analysis

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

More information about poems by William Stafford