This is an analysis of The Secret Police by Ken Smith.

They are listening in the wires,
in the walls, under the eaves…

Browse poems by Ken Smith

Structure

  • Rhyme scheme: aaabb X cXcaab X dbdaXebcaXeadX
  • Stanza lengths: 5,1,6,1,14,
  • Metre: 111000010 0011001 0010110 0010110 001010 11100001 1110101001 0110010100 1011111 11110010101 101101 11101001011 11111 111111 111111 01010011 10101101100 101110010 11011011 11111010 101011011100 1110101001010 101000101010 1101001 1011101001010 01101111 011101010
  • Closest metre: trochaic tetrameter
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Stanzas: 5
  • Lines: 27

Repeated words/phrases

in, things, their

Anaphora

in, on

Epiphora

things