Analysis of Where The Sidewalk Ends

Shel Silverstein 1930 (Chicago) – 1999



There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
and the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
we shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow
and watch where the chalk-white arrows go
to the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
and we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
for the children, they mark, and the children, they know,
the place where the sidewalk ends.


Scheme AXBBBX XACCCA CCCA
Poetic Form
Metre 11011011 0010101 01011101 01011101 010111111 1100101 1111110111 0011101 101101101 111101111001 011011101 1011011 111101111001 0111011101 101011001011 011011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 691
Words 138
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 182
Words per stanza (avg) 42
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Submitted by davidb on February 06, 2022

Modified on May 03, 2023

42 sec read
369

Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allan Silverstein was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into the United States Army. more…

All Shel Silverstein poems | Shel Silverstein Books

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