Analysis of Sick
Shel Silverstein 1930 (Chicago) – 1999
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more—that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut—my eyes are blue—
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke—
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is—what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIJKKLLMNOOPPQARA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011101 11010101 11010001 01010101 11111111 11010111 11011111 11001101 01111101 01111111 11111111 11111 11010101 11111111 11111111 1101100 1111111 1111111 11111111 11010011 11111111 11010111 11110111 11111101 1111111 11001111 11111101 11010111 110101111 111111 11011100 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,100 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 21 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 809 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 214 |
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"Sick" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/152787/sick>.
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