Poetry Analysis 101

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Poetry Analysis 101
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Where do I start?

• To really understand a poem you need to read it 3
  times.
• 1st to just read it through
• 2nd to analyze structure (rhyme scheme, meter,
  figurative language, etc.)
• 3rd to analyze meaning
• Lets start with an easy one

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Music by Percy Bysshe Shelly

• Music, when soft voices die,Vibrates in the
  memoryOdours, when sweet violets sicken,Live
  within the sense they quicken.
• Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,Are heap'd
  for the beloved's bedAnd so thy thoughts, when
  thou art gone,Love itself shall slumber on.

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Reading 1

• Just read the poem and absorb the language. Enjoy
  the imagery and the rhythm of the words.

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Reading 2

• Now lets look at the form of this poem

Music, when soft voices die,Vibrates in the
memoryOdours, when sweet violets sicken,Live
within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves,
when the rose is dead,Are heap'd for the
beloved's bedAnd so thy thoughts, when thou art
gone,Love itself shall slumber on.
What is the rhyme scheme? What does this rhyme
scheme tell you?
Any words you dont know?
Any personification? Any metaphors? Similes?
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Reading 3

• What kind of questions do I ask?
• Remember, everything in poetry is done for a
  purpose, so you have to be constantly asking
  WHY? and WHAT?
• Why did he say this?
• What is this supposed to mean?
• What does this represent?
• What is the overall point?

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Reading 3
When a song is over, you still remember it the
sound
Music, when soft voices die,Vibrates in the
memoryOdours, when sweet violets sicken,Live
within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves,
when the rose is dead,Are heap'd for the
beloved's bedAnd so thy thoughts, when thou art
gone,Love itself shall slumber on.
When a smell is gone, you can still remember the
scent
When a rose dies the petals can be used on the
bed(coffin). You remember the love that the rose
represents. I dont actually know this, but it
makes sense, think of how people spread flower
petals now as a romantic thing, dead petals are
the opposite of that.
And when you (my love) die, and your thoughts are
gone, my love for you will live on, and be a
remembrance of you
A big part of analyzing poetry is realizing that
there isnt a right or wrong, its all about
saying your opinion and telling why its right.
If you think its right, then it can be!
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Descriptive Language

• One important thing to think about when analyzing
  poetry is the descriptive language.
• Picking particular adjectives and adverbs make a
  huge difference in the meaning of the poem

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She Walks in BeautyBy Lord George Gordon Byron
She walks in beauty like the night of
cloudless climes and starry skies And all thats
best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect
and her eyes Thus mellowd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies One shade the
more, one ray the less, Had half impaird the
nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens oer her face Where
thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how
dear their dwelling place.
And on that cheek, and oer that brow, So
soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win,
the tints that glow, But tells of days in
goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
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Reading 2
She walks in beauty like the night of
cloudless climes and starry skies And all thats
best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect
and her eyes Thus mellowd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies One shade the
more, one ray the less, Had half impaird the
nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens oer her face Where
thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how
dear their dwelling place. And on that cheek,
and oer that brow, So soft, so calm, yet
eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that
glow, But tells of days in goodness spent, A
mind at peace with all below, A heart whose
love is innocent!
She walks in beauty like the night of
cloudless climes and starry skies And all thats
best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect
and her eyes Thus mellowd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies One shade the
more, one ray the less, Had half impaird the
nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens oer her face Where
thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how
dear their dwelling place. And on that cheek,
and oer that brow, So soft, so calm, yet
eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that
glow, But tells of days in goodness spent, A
mind at peace with all below, A heart whose
love is innocent!

• What is the rhyme scheme?
• Any figurative language?
• Lets look at the descriptive language.
• Look at all the highlighted words, those words
  create the mood and tone of the poem.
• Imagine if he had used other adjectives, it would
  have a completely different feel.

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Insert your own adjectives

• Using this simple poetic stanza, put in whatever
  descriptive words to have it make sense.

The sun rises and I have _________ thoughts. My
eyes ________ open, the ______ inside me growing.
________, I step towards the day, knowing I am
_______, I am ________, thats what this day has
brought.
See how important descriptive language can be?
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Reading 3
She walks in beauty like the night of
cloudless climes and starry skies And all thats
best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect
and her eyes Thus mellowd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies One shade the
more, one ray the less, Had half impaird the
nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens oer her face Where
thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how
dear their dwelling place. And on that cheek,
and oer that brow, So soft, so calm, yet
eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that
glow, But tells of days in goodness spent, A
mind at peace with all below, A heart whose
love is innocent!

• What is happening in the poem?
• What is the author describing?
• What happened?
• How does he feel?
• Are there any words you dont know?
• What is the mood?
• What is he trying to express?
• Is he successful?

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Read Aloud

• Poetry is best when heard out loud. Its an art
  form that is easiest to understand when you hear
  it.
• Each person will read a poem differently, so we
  can see a little bit of their personality in the
  poem, which affects how we understand it.
• The human soul is in the writing of poetry, but
  the soul of the poem cant be let out, unless a
  person is there to do it.

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Mother to SonBy Langston Hughes

• Well, son, I'll tell youLife for me ain't been
  no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And
  splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no
  carpet on the floorBare.But all the time I'se
  been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And
  turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the
  darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy,
  don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the
  steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't
  you fall nowFor I'se still goin', honey,I'se
  still climbin',And life for me ain't been no
  crystal stair.

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Analysis.

• What does the voice of the narrator tell you?
• Who is she?
• What has her life been like?
• Where is she from?
• Remember the narrator and the author are not
  necesarrily the same thing.

• Well, son, I'll tell youLife for me ain't been
  no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And
  splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no
  carpet on the floorBare.But all the time I'se
  been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And
  turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the
  darkWhere there ain't been no light.So, boy,
  don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the
  steps.'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't
  you fall nowFor I'se still goin', honey,I'se
  still climbin',And life for me ain't been no
  crystal stair.

• Who is she talking to?
• Who ELSE is she talking to?

• Which words stick out to you as important?
• Important words are ones that tell you a lot very
  simply

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Read Aloud

• Each person in the class has the same poem as
  someone else.
• Study it, get familiar with the language.
• Each set of people will read their poems
• This is not a competition, this is just to see
  how your different personalities and
  interpretations change the meaning of the poem.
• Put some effort in! You wont be funny by reading
  it robotically or monotone on purpose.

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Read Aloud Continued

• Now that you have read your poems aloud, you will
  work with your poem partner to analyze your poem
  by writing one well-developed paragraph.
• BUT
• How do you do that?

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Writing an Analysis

• Things to remember
• Poetry is subjective, meaning each person brings
  their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences to
  it
• There is NO right answer to analyzing poetry, if
  you feel it, it can be right
• You do have to EXPLAIN your feelings and connect
  them to the writing, it cant just be random
  stuff
• To write about poetry you have to have a reaction
  and talk about it.
• Everyone can do it!

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Sample Analysis

• Music by Percy Bysshe Shelly
• Music, when soft voices die,
• Vibrates in the memory
• Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
• Live within the sense they quicken.
• Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
• Are heap'd for the beloved's bed
• And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
• Love itself shall slumber on.

I am going to discuss the couplets, the sensory
images and the overall meaning.
The rhyming couplets connect each set of lines
together, they also create focus of each idea.
The sensory images (sound, smell, sight) create a
flow to the poem and then in the final couplet
where it goes to the mind, the ideas have already
circled that.
Now lets combine my ideas into a cohesive
paragraph!
The overall meaning says that as long as you
remember someone in your heart, they will be a
part of your life forever
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Final Paragraph
Always say the title and the authors full name!

• In his poem Music author Percy Bysshe Shelly
  connects the sound of music to the loss of a
  great love. Throughout the poem he uses rhyming
  couplets to connect lines of ideas to finally
  come to his conclusion that love, much like
  things felt by the other senses, is a part of our
  memory and as long as we keep it a part of us, it
  cant fade away. He talks about how we remember
  the sound of beautiful music, how we remember the
  scent of flowers, and how the same flowers can
  show us love and death together. Finally, he
  concludes that just like the scent of the flower,
  the feelings of love he has can never be lost as
  long as he remembers them vividly in his heart.

Note that I dont say I think or I feel, I
dont even have to say anything about the fact
that it is my opinion. My interpretation of what
Shelly is saying shows my opinion. You just state
your interpretation as if its the only one there
could be. If you were to read this, without
knowing I wrote it, you might think that this was
TRUE, but really its just my educated analysis.
Everyone is capable of doing the same thing, with
a little practice of course.
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Your turn!

• Now, working with your Read Aloud Poem Partner
  you are going to analyze your poem.
• Ask the kind of questions we practiced about
  form, meaning, and imagery.
• Use your answers to these questions to write an
  in-depth paragraph of analysis.