We analysed many poems in class with the teacher to prepare for the test. We learnt in class how to find out the meaning of the poem, and what is the message the poet wants to convey.
These are the 10 steps to analyse a poem:
1. Forget what the poem may or may not mean, or what it may be about.
2. Look at just the title and WRITE DOWN about half a dozen things that it suggests to you. Give literal meanings as well as other associations.
3. Read the poem once quickly, and then several times more slowly. Try to hear the poem aloud in your head. DO NOT recite the poem aloud in class; if you must hear it aloud, read it quietly to yourself.
4. WRITE DOWN a list of all those things in the poem that force their attention on you or which catch your interest for any particular reason. This includes unusual/odd/striking words, rhymes, or repetitions/patterns/contrasts, etc.
5. WRITE DOWN any features of figurative language in the poem: metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, symbolism, etc.
6. WRITE DOWN groups of words that may be thematically similar (for example, that all similes make reference to animals/death/plants, etc., or all the first words of lines are conjunction words, etc.). Don't worry about whether your groups of words seem silly or improbable; look at what you have observed and ask yourself: what is its significance?
7. Look at your lists, notes, and groups. Do you see any pattern taking shape? If so, WRITE DOWN this pattern.
8. Read the poem again and WRITE DOWN your intelligent guesses of what the poem may mean.
9. Answer the following questions:
a) Who is "speaking" in the poem? Is it the POET or a PERSONA?
b) Who is the poem "spoken" to? In other words, who is the audience for this poem? Is it to a particular person, to the poet himself (reflective) or to the public in general?
c) What is the speaker's attitude to this audience? Is it angry, sincere, joking, teasing, etc.?
d) What is the POET's attitude to this audience? (This may be different from the speaker.)
e) Why is the poem organized in the way that it is?
f) What is the EFFECT of all the things you have written down in Steps 2-8?
10. WRITE DOWN your guess at the poet's intent: what do you think the poet hoped to accomplish in writing this poem?
I see no fun and is not interested in poetry. However, as it is tested and counted into the grades, I have no choice but to learn and understand more about it. And maybe someday I would love poetry.
