focuses on "space" and the space the speaker's "big hips" have claimed for themselves. It defies the idea that hips should be confined into "little petty places" and protests this confinement with words such as "free," "mighty," and "magic." The speaker's hips are not "held back" or "enslaved," and the prominent position of the hips is reflected by the way repetition of the phrase "these hips" accords them a privileged position within the poem itself.

The structure of this poem is carefully crafted such that the shape of the words on the page bells out into a curve, reaching its widest point on the line, "these hips have never been enslaved." The form of the poem visually represents the curve of the "free hips," unwilling to be "held back" into the "petty places" represented by the curtailed lines at the beginning of the poem. Rather, "these hips" take up all the space they need.

Lines and Syllables:

· Total lines: 15

· First: 5 syllables

· Second: 4 syllables

· Third: 4 syllables

· Fourth: 7 syllables

· Fifth: 6 syllables

· Sixth: 3 syllables

· Seventh: 7 syllables

· Eighth: 8 syllables

· Ninth: 7 syllables

· Tenth: 7 syllables

· Eleventh: 6 syllables

· Twelfth: 6 syllables

· Thirteenth: 4 syllables

· Fourteenth: 8 syllables

· Fifteenth: 5 syllables

The rhythm of Clifton's "homage to my hips" is modeled on the movements of bodies, as seen in her lyrical descriptions of hip movements. The formal rhythm of the poem is supposed to mirror the movements of a physical body: swaying back and forth, much like the hips described in the poem. The repetition of "hips" emphasizes imagery of liberated, moving bodies, and the alliterative "petty places" contributes to the poem's rhythm with repeating sounds.

The rhythm can be broken down by the metrical patterns in the poem, which we can see in the different stresses on syllables. The beats mostly move from weak to strong or unstressed to stressed syllables throughout the poem. The rhythmic and repetitious qualities of the poem begin to build in the second half of the poem, giving way to a rising feeling of celebration as the speaker embraces her body. Of course, the meter differs depending on the line, which can be determined by the number of syllables and beats in the chart above.

I'm not sure why you need to know how many lines and how many syllables are in each line of the poem, but the answer is 15 lines, and you can count the syllables.

The tone of the poem is joyous. The poet accepts the fact that she has big hips, and she celebrates her body. She loves herself just the way she is. Interestingly, almost in contrast to the size of her hips, the words she uses to describe them are rather short: big, free, mighty, magic. She also refrains from capitalizing any words, almost as if they can't compete with her big hips.

She personifies her hips by giving them a mind of their own: "they don't like to be held back" and "they go where they want to go."

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