How+to+Read+a+Poem

= Don't be afraid of a poem!! It might not look like a friendly paragraph, = = but it can be read, understood and enjoyed.... = = and its rewards can be much sweeter. =

Here is a 1-line poem that shows what a poem can do. Will you ever look at an artichoke again in quite the same way?
=__ Artichoke __=

= = = O heart weighed down by so many wings =

(Joseph Hutchison)


==**A poem is different than a prose piece in that it involves using a conciseness of language. As Laurence Perrine explains on page 1 of //Sound and Sense//, "Poetry might be defined as a kind of language that says //more// and says it //more intensely// than does ordinary language." But it still simply uses words.**==

=** So, what's the best way to read a poem? **=

==**First, read the poem, aloud if possible. Read it twice or even three times. Get a sense of it, the feel of it, the mood it evokes. What does the poem seem to be about? What are its central images or ideas? Don't neglect to read the title! Sometimes it holds the key to understanding the poem.**== ==**Now note the FORM of the poem. Is it structured? Are there stanzas? Is it a sonnet? All poems make some sort of forward movement through a thought or moment -- consider how the poem's form might aid in this progression.**==

===1. Who is the **speaker** of the poem? What kind of person is this speaker? Male or female? Young or old? Does he or she have a particular profession or world view? Remember, __the speaker may or may not be the author__. Like with prose, some poems may be fictional.===

===2. Is there an identifiable __**audience**__ for the speaker? Is he or she addressing a particular person or group of people? If not, we say the audience is a general "ear of the world," to whom the speaker is musing about life.===

===3. What is the __**occasion**__ for this poem? Has something happened to the speaker that we might guess? Is the speaker looking at a particular scene, or perhaps reflecting upon some aspect of his/her life or the world? All poems are either NARRATIVE (telling a story) or LYRIC (reflecting on a moment or idea).===

===4. What is the __**setting**__ of the poem, in time or place? What imagery does the poem provide that creates pictures in your head as you read? (indoors or outdoors, urban or rural, a particular nation or region, etc.) Is there a __**shift in time or place**__, providing a flash back or flash forward, or movement between places? Why? Is the poem completely grounded in **__reality__**, or is there a dream-like or fantastical element in it?===

===6. What does the poem seem to be **about**? Why did the author write the poem? What was his or her __**purpose** **or message**__? Think about the poem in a more universal sense -- what does the poet seem to be saying about the human condition or life or the universe?===

7. If you have time, Try to **paraphrase** the poem in your own words in 3-5 sentences.
== **Now, if you are doing more literary or rhetorical explication of a poem, start to look more closely at it. Consider the following elements, choosing those** **you believe to be the most important.** ==

===17. Finally, does this poem echo or remind you of any other literary works? Do you think this may have been intentional? (Consider the world of the poet and what he or she might have in common with other writers.) What other poems, prose pieces, or plays would you compare the poem to, and how?===

SOAPSTONE and DIDLS (widely-used acronyms for the process of rhetorical and poetry analysis):

 * https://bestofaplanguage.wordpress.com/soapstone-a-method-for-analyzing-discourse/soapstone-and-didls-for-poetry-analysis/**