Read the poem again and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format (title, poet, rhyme scheme, theme, figures of speech, special features, favourite line, why I like/dislike it).

‘Animals’ is a poem by the American poet Walt Whitman, a major figure in early American poetry who broke with tradition by writing in free verse. True to his style, the poem has no rhyme scheme and no regular metre. The theme is that the poet feels more at home with animals than with human beings, because animals are calm, self-sufficient and content, while humans are complicated and false. Animals do not complain about their condition, weep for their sins, preach about their duty to God, crave possessions or kneel to one another. The poet feels that animals still carry virtues like innocence, simplicity and contentment – ‘tokens’ that humans once had but carelessly dropped. The poem uses repetition (‘long and long’, ‘not one’), alliteration, hyperbole (‘over the whole earth’) and metaphor (‘tokens of myself’). The language is simple and conversational and the tone is reflective and slightly satirical towards human beings. My favourite line is “I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d”, as it sums up the poet’s longing for a simple life. I like the poem because it makes us look at ourselves honestly and learn contentment from animals.