The poem that I am doing an analysis about is Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. In the poem I feel that Silverstein addresses people in general. There is repetition present throughout the poem, the phrase, when the sidewalk ends, is repeated many times through the poem. There is some end rhyme present throughout the poem but in each stanza it is not the same. For example in stanza one the end rhyme is end, begins, white, bright, flight, and wind (ABCCCA) then in stanza two the end rhyme is black, bends, grow, slow, go, and ends (ABCCCB). So the end rhyme is kind of the same just the last word rhymes with the first word in stanza one then the second word in stanza two. Finally, in stanza three the end rhyme is slow, go, knows, and ends. I feel the mood of the first stanza is happy then the second stanza is depressing. I think the mood of the third one is helpful.
I feel that Silverstein uses the word choice that he does to create a very visual picture in people’s minds as they read this poem. I think that he is saying that we all need to get away from the darkness in our lives, and move toward the brighter place. The bright place could be many different things like seeking help for an addiction, but to me it represents heaven. The dark place could also represent many different things for different people like an addiction, but for me the dark place is represented by the Earth that we live on. You have to follow in the right path to leave your own darkness because if you go the wrong way you will just get wrapped back up in the darkness. You have to follow in one direction to get to heaven, and if you go the wrong way then you will just fall back into the wrong things you were doing on Earth. “When the sidewalk ends,” I think means that when your journey is over hopefully you are in the brighter place and not still in darkness. You pass away hopefully you go to heaven, and not to more darkness.
I like the use of Silverstein’s word choice throughout the poem. In line four, he says, “sun burns crimson bright,” this creates a very visual picture to me while I am reading it. I think the sun is shining that bright yellow color with a tint of red, so it makes the color crimson shine bright in the sky. In line six, I also enjoy his word choice. Silverstein mentions, “To cool in the peppermint wind,” this creates the visual image to me of the wind spiraling all around like in a peppermint the colors red and white are spiraled. When he says, "follow the chalk-white arrows,” I feel as he is saying that there is only the one certain way to go, and if you travel in a different path then you will get lost and not make it. When Silverstein says "the children, they know," makes me think that he is saying that you are a child it is easy to follow in that one path toward the good place, but as you get older it is harder to follow that one good path because there are so many other paths toward the bad that you can fall into.
I thought that this poem was very good, and it makes me realize that in life if you try to go to the good side you can make, but you have to turn your back on the darkness and stay on the right path. I also think that is poem is very true in the meaning that I believe it holds because as you get older life only gets more and more complicated. I loved his word choice because it helped me understand the poem a lot better than I normally understand a poem.
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