Experiencing a Poem

Begin by letting your instincts be your guide: What are your initial reactions to the poem? What elements in the poem do you immediately feel are important? What questions occur to you?

Try to make some basic connections to other poems: Does this poem seem similar to any other poems you know—either poems of the same period or of a different period? How does the poem reinforce or play off of familiar forms (e.g., sonnet, elegy) and/or conventions? What (if anything) is different or unusual about it?

Then proceed to a closer analysis, asking all the appropriate questions: Who is the speaker or the persona (or mask) adopted by the poet? How closely is the persona to be identified with the poet? Is this voice a distinct dramatized creation far removed from the actual voice of its creator? What can you say about the personality, circumstances, attitude, and tone of this “voice”? Does this voice stay the same throughout or is there some kind of change or shift?

Can you identify an occasion or dramatic situation? How specific is the setting?

Is it a lyric poem? a narrative poem? a dramatic poem? an epic poem? [Consult your literary handbook to learn more about the differences among these types of poems.]

Examine the language. Does the poet make use of unusual syntax (word order)? What is the level of diction: colloquial, elevated, somewhere in between? Does the poet use any striking words or phrases that stand out from the line or the poem as a whole? Can you describe the tone?

Does the poet make use of alliteration (repetition of consonant sounds) or assonance (repetition of similar vowel sounds) to achieve a certain effect?

Examine the imagery. Here you will look not only at word pictures but also at descriptions designed to appeal to any of the senses.

What forms of poetic comparison does the poet use (e.g., metaphor and simile) and how do these work to shape our reaction to the poem?

Try to paraphrase or summarize the poem. Can you succinctly state the poem’s theme or themes? Have you uncovered variant readings of a single poem?

Does the poet employ a set meter or rhyme scheme? If so, describe it. If not, still try to characterize the basic form of the poem noting any discernible pattern. What significant can you attach to the presence of a regular pattern or the lack thereof?

What can you say about the structure, organization, or movement of the poem?

In your opinion, for a poem of its kind (i.e., genre or type) how successful is the poem? Justify your opinion