Analysis of The homeless man.



The homeless man.

I toss a few coppers and silver, they tinkle, into his tin.
Around me, is the racket of traffic and city "din",
I shudder as I walk away,
hoping someone will find somewhere quieter, for him to stay.

The city is hostile and distraction is all around,
but he is oblivious, just wants to be found
and for
money to be put into his tired hands.
He just wants passers by to take pity, understand.

A hairy, sleeping dog, it's head in his lap,
himself- slumped over, grimy, black teethe, tatty cap.
I wonder...
am I fueling his alcohol addiction?
I leave- before I encounter, from other people, any friction...

At least I cared in that moment, about his sad plight,
after all he is someone's Dad, brother, son -
now just an unwanted, abandoned sight....


Scheme X AABB CCXXX DDXEE FEF
Poetic Form
Metre 0101 1101100101100111 01110101100101 11011101 1011111001111 01011000101101 111010011111 01 10111011101 111101111001 01010111011 011101011101 110 1110110010 11011010110101010 1111011001111 1011111101 1110100101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 767
Words 157
Sentences 10
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 5, 5, 3
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 116
Words per stanza (avg) 28

About this poem

This is about the plight of the homeless.Should we take pity and give them money- or does it just serve to fuel their alcohol and drug addiction?

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Written on December 09, 2021

Submitted by ljsanders on April 25, 2023

47 sec read
107

Laura Sanders

I live in Dorset in the U.K.I am inspired by nature and the countryside, especially the seasons, and the weather.I write about all sorts of topics and my poems are usually rhyming, haiku or free verse. more…

All Laura Sanders poems | Laura Sanders Books

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