Analysis of That Shadow, My Likeness

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




   THAT shadow, my likeness, that goes to and fro, seeking a livelihood,
         chattering, chaffering;
   How often I find myself standing and looking at it where it flits;
   How often I question and doubt whether that is really me;
   --But in these, and among my lovers, and caroling my songs,
   O I never doubt whether that is really me.


Scheme ABCDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 111101110110010 1001 1101111001011111 110110011011101 1010011100111 111011011101
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 348
Words 60
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 6
Lines Amount 6
Letters per line (avg) 42
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 250
Words per stanza (avg) 58
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 20, 2023

18 sec read
671

Walt Whitman

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

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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