The basics of interpreting or analyzing a poem

Poetry is often very daunting even for people who are very comfortable with analyzing narratives. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make poetry less intimidating. Some of what makes poetry more intimidating is often its unusual structure (when compared to other types of writing,) its rhyme schemes, and the prevalence of metaphor. For this post, let us examine the structural issues that many find so off-putting.

People often struggle with the way poetry is laid out on the page. It can be helpful to change the layout of the poem by removing line breaks and creating a more typical looking paragraph. Read and re-read the poem in this new structure and see if you are better able to understand what is being discussed. Read what you have aloud in as normal a voice as possible. Think of the way you speak in conversation with friends rather than a more formal “poetry!” voice. Ask a roommate or someone else who hasn’t been reading the poem to read your paragraph aloud to you.

Once the poem starts to feel familiar rather than intimidating, go back to its original structure. Poets choose specific structures for reasons. Sometimes, it is because they simply like the way one line stands on its own. Structure shouldn’t be ignored in a poem, but it’s often best for younger students to separate structure and content until they are more comfortable.

Feel free to contact us at Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or on our Web site with any questions about our services.