Analysis of Alix
Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)
The mare Alix breaks the world’s trotting record one day. I see her heels flash down the dust of an Illinois race track on a summer afternoon. I see the timekeepers put their heads together over stopwatches, and call to the grand stand a split second is clipped off the old world’s record and a new world’s record fixed.
I see the mare Alix led away by men in undershirts and streaked faces. Dripping Alix in foam of white on the harness and shafts. And the men in undershirts kiss her ears and rub her nose, and tie blankets on her, and take her away to have the sweat sponged.
I see the grand stand jammed with prairie people yelling themselves hoarse. Almost the grand stand and the crowd of thousands are one pair of legs and one voice standing up and yelling hurrah.
I see the driver of Alix and the owner smothered in a fury of handshakes, a mob of caresses. I see the wives of the driver and owner smothered in a crush of white summer dresses and parasols.
Hours later, at sundown, gray dew creeping on the sod and sheds, I see Alix again:
Dark, shining-velvet Alix,
Night-sky Alix in a gray blanket,
Led back and forth by a nigger.
Velvet and night-eyed Alix
With slim legs of steel.
And I want to rub my nose against the nose of the mare Alix.
Scheme | X X X A XAXXAX A |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011010110011111011101110111101001110111101010100110110110111011010011011 1101101011101001101010011110100100101010101010110100100111011 110111110101001110110011101111101110101001 11010110001010001011011010110110100101000111101001 101011111010101111001 1101010 111000110 11011010 1001110 11111 0111111010110110 |
Characters | 1,256 |
Words | 239 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 1 |
Lines Amount | 11 |
Letters per line (avg) | 90 |
Words per line (avg) | 22 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 164 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 40 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 65 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Alix" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4597/alix>.
Discuss this Carl Sandburg poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In