The idea of our lesson is to analyze the structure of a free verse poem. To incorporate a spreadsheet into it, we decided to make our analysis include calculating the number of syllabus and finding the maximum, minimum, and average number of syllables per line. The poem we are using for this is an Emily Dickinson poem called, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” because it alternates between eight and six syllables per line, and we are only using the first twelve lines so that it is nothing too crazy to lose track of.  

Because I could not stop for Death (479)

Because I could not stop for Death – 
He kindly stopped for me –  
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –  
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility – 

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –  
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –  
We passed the Setting Sun –