Ten Steps to Poetry Analysis

Ten Steps to Poetry Analysis

Analyzing poetry can be a frustrating, confusing, and often time-consuming endeavor.  Keep in mind while you are reading a poem that most English teachers and college professors will ask you to discuss the “theme” or meaning behind a poem during your analysis.  The following guidelines may help you to better analyze an individual poem.

1. To begin your analysis, carefully read the title of the poem.  may even prove fruitless, sometimes the title of a poem can help you to identify its subject or perhaps even get a hint at the tone used in the body of the poem itself.  Sometimes a title lacks any real meaning (for example, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 133”) or is simply a restatement of the first line in the poem (as with many of Dickinson’s works).  Other times, the title may prove to be a good start to your analysis.

Create a “web” of connotations and denotations of the words in the poem’s title (when applicable).  Again, the title may be the first step into analyzing the poem.

2. If the extract or passage provides them, note the name of the poet and the publishing date of the poem.  With luck, you might recognize the poet and perhaps even a literary period or movement.
3. Examine the basic structure of the poem.  Is it divided into stanzas?  How many?  Are the lines lengthy, short, or do they vary?  Are the stanzas of consistent length?  Do you recognize the form?  In the first initial reading, and it is okay to be slightly off, identify the following in the poem: speaker, to whom the speaker is addressing, what the poem is about (Again, this is your first impression!), the purpose (Why do you think the poet wrote this poem?), and tone (adjectives to describe the writer’s attitude). 
4. After reading the poem through once, you should assess the general use of language and syntax.  What register or level of usage has the poet chosen to incorporate?  Is the language modern or archaic?  Is a dialect present?  Slang?  Is the language informal or formal?
5. Assess diction.  Which words are the most important?  Which words are “loaded” or have a notable connotation?  Attempt to locate those words which reinforce or develop the poet’s tone toward the subject.
6. Reread the passage carefully, scanning for the use of literary devices.  Some common literary devices used in poetry are personification, metaphor, simile, symbol, allusion, alliteration, assonance, repetition, apostrophe, and imagery.  Attempt to not only recognize these literary devices, but also to formulate a comment on their function in the text.

To help in identifying literary devices and attempting to understand how the poet utilizes these devices, label specific poetry devices with colored pencils (or with a key or note-taking method you feel comfortable with).

7.  Look for patterns or motifs.  What examples of figurative language work together?  What examples of diction or syntax seem parallel or reinforce a similar image or element?
8. Watch for turns or shifts in the attitude or focus of the poem.  More complex poetry frequently includes a shift in the “voice” of the speaker.
9. Pay careful attention to the closing lines.  Some poems contain a final couplet which includes a comment or statement on the subject as a whole.
10. At the end of your analysis, attempt to arrive at a comment about the tone of the poet towards his or her subject, as well as a statement about the theme of the poem.