5 things to look for while reading a poem
The task of analyzing a poem can be daunting for many students because poetry, by its nature, is symbolic and subjective and we are trained in school to think concretely and objectively. But at some point in your academic life you will likely be asked to analyze a poem. If and when that day comes, don’t panic. Eduify is here to help.
If you have trouble grasping the meaning of poetry (don’t worry, you’re not alone), a good first step is to paraphrase the poem. Think of paraphrasing as translating the symbolic language of poetry into the concrete language of prose. This exercise, in which you’re essentially re-writing the poem in your own words, will help you grasp the meaning of the poem you’re analyzing.
Once you understand what the poem is saying—or, at least, sort of understand—you can start analyzing how the poem is saying it.
Rhyme and Meter
Rhyme and meter are two very important rhythmic elements of poetry. Rhyming words occur at the ends of lines and very often follow a set pattern throughout the entire poem. Many poetic forms, such as the Shakespearean Sonnet (link), have easily recognizable rhyming schemes. A poem’s meter, too, is often determined by the form in which it is written. The Shakespearean sonnet is written primarily in Iambic Pentameter, which consists of five (pent) iambs—metrical feet of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Iambic Pentameter was thought by Shakespeare to be the natural rhythm of the human voice and thus the most beautiful and harmonious. As you can see, simply identifying the rhyming scheme and meter of a poem may help you gather other information about the poem and even about the poet; for instance, you may be able to determine by whom the poet was influenced and in what tradition he or she was writing.
Speaker and Subject
A poem is narrative, and thus it has a voice. Identifying this voice—or speaker—in the poem you’re analyzing is an important task because it tells you from whose perspective the poem is written. It is very easy to assume that the speaker in the poem is the poet himself or herself, but we should be wary about jumping to such hasty conclusions. When trying to identify the speaker, assume nothing about his or her identity, but ask questions: Is the speaker a man or a woman? Is he or she young or old? Follow these same steps when trying to identify the subject— the person or the object that the speaker is addressing in the poem.
Diction
Poetry generally uses fewer words than does prose, and, as a result, every word in a poem carries more significance. Thus, an important part of analyzing poetry is analyzing the words themselves. How does the poet use the words? Why does he or she use this word rather than that word? How do the words sound when read out loud? How do the words in the line, the stanza, and the entire poem relate to one another? What connotations and denotations do the words have? All of these questions are important to ask when analyzing the poem’s diction.
Sound
Poetry, though generally viewed as an art form in the modern world, has very practical origins. Before man had the ability and technology to record large amounts of information, rhythmic verse was used to remember and pass on history, story, genealogy, and even law. Thus, as an oral tradition, the sound of poetry is paramount. When analyzing a poem, pay special attention to the sounds that the words make, for you can be sure the poet—if he or she is any good—was very deliberate in his or her choosing the words and sounds in the poem. Alliteration, consonance, and assonance are all poetic devices used by poets and all three refer to the repetition of specific sounds in a poem. Another device related to sound is onomatopoeia, which describes words that represent not the meaning of something but rather the sound. Some examples include buzz, zip, and clap.
Figurative Language
Metaphors and similes are examples of figurative language used by poets to drive an image or message forward throughout a poem. A metaphor is a vivid comparison of someone or something to something else that doesn’t have an explicit relation. A simile draws a comparison between two things and uses a connective word such as “like,” “as,” or “resembles.” As the word implies, a simile shows a similarity between the two things being compared. Another common example of figurative language in poetry is personification, which describes the transference of human attributes to non-human objects or phenomena. For instance, the sun and the moon are commonly personified and given the ability to consciously manipulate the world in poetry. Why might poets use figurative language?
The preceding is by no means a complete list of everything you need to know about poetry in order to analyze it effectively—there are large volumes that take on that task and often don’t even complete it. Instead, I hope that this post will serve as an introduction—with models—for you to use when you’re assigned an explication essay. Don’t assume, for instance, that all poetry is written in Shakespearean sonnet form and in iambic pentameter; or, for another instance, that figurative speech is limited to metaphor, simile, and personification. If you’ve gained a greater understanding of poetry and how to analyze it, then this post has served its purpose.
