Poetry Critic

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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.

2. I selected this poem because it was a memoriable ones that had read in elementary school. In my free time I used to go through poem books by Shel Silverstein because they were always fun and interesting.

3. The title is very fitting and logical of its use. It is used in the first and last lines of the poem and is described throughout. Basically it is what the whole poem is about.

4. The three lines before the last of each stanza rhyme which creates a sort of ease of reading the poem. It adds a sort of rythm to it and allows the reader to partially forsee ending sound of the line. The poem also using a great deal of imagery. In the first stanza he describes where the sidewalk ends very vividly by portraying the grass, the sun and a bird in the area. This allows the reader to better imagine the place that he is describing.

5. The tone of it is sort of forebodding. It seems to be telling the reader that it is not a desirable place to be and to not try to seek it out. Also it sort of seems like it isn't really a place that you are able to go to and is a fictional place that people always wonder if it exists. No one ever really sees the end of a sidewalk or thinks anything about seeing the end of a sidewalk. Its just a mistery that is interesting to think about.