Poetry- a layman’s guide to analyzing it

Why do we read poems? How to approach poems? Or What is the need to analyze it? Questions, we English teachers are very often confronted with. What do we say: To the first, we say, poems are to be read for the pleasure they give, the imagery they paint in our mind, the thrill of hidden meaning which can be extracted, the metaphors it contain, in short, a journey inside the mind of the poet who wrote it, the reasons her wrote it for, and the effect it has on the reader. To the last question, a short and blunt answer suffices: Poems are part of your syllabus. You will be set questions on it. You will have to analyze it. Therefore, you have to know the ways and means to do it which answers the second question.

To keep it simple, a poem has to be approached with certain knowledge in mind, especially at the IB Diploma level. These are:

1. Type of  poetry
2. Genre/structure of the poem
3. Possible period in which it was written
4. Figures of speech/poetic devices/rhetorical devices used
5. Rhyme and meter used
6. Theme/themes it contains

Very often, a student gets panicky when confronted with an unknown poem to analyze in Paper 1 of English A1, IBDP. Having a sound knowledge and idea of the above mentioned points could help the students understand the poem easily and help them appreciate it easily.

William Wordsworth in his Preface to Lyrical Ballads has written: Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. For me, that is the key to approach any poem, deal with it emotionally. Speak to it, converse with it, react to it, argue with it, and finally give your own opinion about it, differing or agreeing to the poet’s emotions and feelings. This, in the IB parlance means ‘a personal response’ to the poem. The poet and the poem want a debate. Are you up to the challenge? If so, LET’S DO IT.

Okay, let’s guide you through the process:

• First of all, read the poem from the beginning to the end. Get a feel of the overall poem. Don’t try to unearth meaning or symbols at this point.
• Next, read the poem again, this time slowly. Start with the title. It has an important part to play. Very often, the title is very suggestive and contains the central theme of the poem itself, albeit connotatively. Does it indicate anything? Is it difficult to decipher?
• Start with the first stanza now. Does it have a dramatic beginning, a shocking statement, perhaps? Or, does it start with a question, a riddle? Perhaps, it may also start with a dull, lazy pace, slowly gathering pace, and heading toward a climax. What does it contain? Does it spring an idea on you as the reader? Does it tell us something, or is it a mere rumination of the poet’s fanciful mind at play? Is a question asked or does it state something? This means, we need to check for authorial intent.
• Continue with the rest of the stanza in the same vein. Check to see the connectors between each stanza, whether the same idea/theme is carried forward or there are differences in the ideas of each stanza. Be sure to check the opposition of ideas which many poets like to play with. Note down any deviations of thought and ideas.
• How does the poem end? Did it answer any question raised at the beginning of the poem? Did the poet contradict himself at the end? Did it throw up additional ideas? Were you happy or disappointed with the concluding stanza?
• The next stage is looking for poetic devices, figures of speech used by the poet? Consider how these devices were used to alleviate, beautify, or give substance to the poem? Was there an abundance of a particular device, or was it full of various rhetorical/poetic devices.
• Note also, the language used. Is it, like Wordsworth wanted it to be, language which a layman could understand, or is it like the style much favored by the metaphysical, full of far-fetched conceits, or chamber poet’s language, as Drayton, in the 17^th century had labeled the metaphysical poets as?
• Hang on; the checklist is still not over: What about imagery, tone, mood, and style…to name a few. All these also have to be taken into consideration if you want to score well in your paper. No wonder, it is felt as a pain by students J
• Now jot down how the poem has affected you overall. Does it differ from the poet’s intent? Don’t be afraid of being completely at odds with it. Remember, you are recreating a poem of your own, so don’t be scared. As long as you can justify your standpoint with lines from the poem, you are on the right track. This is PERSONAL RESPONSE.

Download the Bubble points to look for while analyzing a poem

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