Analysis of One Sweeps By

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)



ONE sweeps by, attended by an immense train,
   All emblematic of peace--not a soldier or menial among them.

One sweeps by, old, with black eyes, and profuse white hair,
   He has the simple magnificence of health and strength,
   His face strikes as with flashes of lightning whoever it turns
         toward.

Three old men slowly pass, followed by three others, and they by
         three others,
   They are beautiful--the one in the middle of each group holds his
         companions by the hand,
   As they walk, they give out perfume wherever they walk.


Scheme XX XXXX XXXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11101011011 10101110101100011 111111100111 1101011101 111111011001011 01 111101101110011 110 1110001001011111 010101 1111110101011
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 563
Words 92
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 2, 4, 5
Lines Amount 11
Letters per line (avg) 37
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 136
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

27 sec read
78

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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