How to comment a poem

Guidelines for Poetry Analysis
	ELEMENTS OF ANALYSIS DESCRIPTION SUBJECT-MATTER What event, situation, or experience does the poem describe or record? Who is the speaker? Is the poet speaking in the role of another person, an animal, a thing? To whom is the speaking talking? What is the time setting - hour of day, season, era? What is the place setting? PURPOSE,THEME, OR MESSAGE What seems to be the poet's purpose in writing this - what message, ideas, issues, themes, (etc.) are communicated? EMOTION, MOOD, OR FEELING What is the poet's tone? Watch for shifts in tone especially toward the end of the poem. What is the poet's attitude toward the subject? What is the predominant emotion, or mood, of the poem? Does the mood change during the poem? What emotions or feelings does the poet seek to evoke in the reader / listener? CRAFTSMANSHIP, OR TECHNIQUE (see below) This aspect of the poem deals with specific skills the poet has used in creating his or her work of art: • Structure • Language • Imagery • Movement • Sound SUMMARY Having analysed the poem, it is important to synthesise (pull all the information together) into a summary. What is the impact of the whole poem for you? How successful is it as a work of art? Does it successfully achieve the poet's purpose or is it flawed in some serious way? Looking Closer at Craftsmanship Structure How is the poem structured? Does it have a conventional structure such as a sonnet, or an ode? Does it have stanzas with a regular number of lines, or any other interesting features of structural design? Can you identify the type of poem - sonnet, free verse, ballad, etc.? Is the poem lyric, dramatic, narrative, or a combination? How can you tell? Language How would you describe the poet's use of words - vivid, striking, effective or colourless and predictable? What visual images are brought to mind? What sensations does the poem evoke: sound, touch, smell, taste, movement, etc.? What words are used in surprising or imaginative ways? Look for puns. Are there any inverted word orders or sentences? What would be the usual order? What purpose is served by the inversion? Is the language appropriate to subject and/or theme? What effect does the language have on the poem's achievement? Imagery Are there any striking examples of figurative language used? What things are compared (similes, metaphors, personifications or symbols) in the poem? Are their analogies or conceits? What is their effect? Movement or Rhythm Does the poem have a regular (slow or fast) rhythm? What is the effect of any rhythmic qualities? Sounds Does the poem have any significant sound features? Is it musical? Does the poet use onomatopoeia, alliteration, or assonance? Does the poem rhyme? What are the effects of these features of sound on the achievement of the poem? The diagram below shows another approach you may wish to take: Sample Poems "It Was Long Ago" Eleanor Farjeon I'll tell you, shall I, something I remember? Something that still means a great deal to me. It was long ago. A dusty road in summer I remember, A mountain, and an old house, and a tree That stood, you know. Behind the house. An old woman I remember In a red shawl with a grey cat on her knee Humming under a tree. She seemed the oldest thing I can remember, But then perhaps I was not more than three. It was long ago. I dragged on the dusty road, and I remember How the old woman looked over the fence at me And seemed to know How it felt to be three, and called out, I remember 'Do you like bilberries and cream for tea?' I went under the tree And while she hummed, and the cat purred, I remember How she filled a saucer with berries and cream for me So long ago, Such berries and such cream as I remember I never had seen before, and never see To day, you know. And that is almost all I can remember, The house, the mountain, the grey cat on her knee, Her red shawl, and the tree, And the taste of the berries, the feel of the sun I remember, And the smell of everything that used to be So long ago, Till the heat on the road outside again I remember, And how the long dusty road seemed to have for me No end, you know. That is the farthest thing I can remember. It won't mean much to you. It does to me. Then I grew up, you see. Read a sample response to this poem and note how the above elements are covered. Sample Year 9 Response to Poetry:“It was a Long Time Ago”   Written Analysis Elements of Analysis "It Was Long Ago", a simple poem by Eleanor Farjeon, records the poet's earliest memory, an incident that occurred when she was around three years old. While she was walking along a dusty road, she saw an old lady sitting under a tree. The lady invited her over and gave her bilberries and cream to eat, a 'feast' that the poet recalls with pleasure. Subject-matter At first glance the poem may appear to have no serious purpose other than the, recording of an early memory, but the last lines suggest some additional significance. The poet shows that this simple, pleasant memory means much to her because, 'then I grew up, you see'. We are reminded that 'growing up' is not always so pleasant. Sadly, being an adult can sometimes dull us so that we no longer appreciate the simple pleasures of life. Purpose (Theme) The poem is gentle and nostalgic. It seeks not only to recreate the scene for the reader, but to have him or her feel the child world goodness of the incident. The poet begins by asking our permission: 'I shall tell you, shall I, something I remember?' In the manner of a small child, she regularly checks to see that we are attending, that we understand: 'You know'; 'You see'. Thus the poem has a confiding, warm feel to it. Emotion (Mood) The poem has an interesting, simple structure built around three line stanzas. Has the poet deliberately used three line stanzas as the most appropriate for a three year old? At any rate, the simple structure is certainly appropriate for the situation. Similarly the language and rhyming scheme are deliberately simple. Words are uncomplicated, tending to be single syllables, with considerable repetition of words. The first line in every stanza ends with the word 'remember', and there are only two other thyme sounds 'ee' and 'oh', used absolutely regularly throughout the poem. The rhythm is gentle and slow, appropriate to the subject matter. Such structural economy and simplicity form a very appropriate vehicle with which to recreate a childhood memory. Craftsmanship • Structure • Language • Imagery • Movement • Sounds Throughout the recreation, the poet seeks to involve our senses. She introduces concrete objects ('a mountain, an old house, and a tree'), and simple colours ('in a red shawl with a grey cat'), to help us visualise the scene. She invites us to hear the memory ('and while she hummed, and the cat purred'), to taste it ('...the taste of berries'), and feel it ('the feel of the sun I remember') as she draws upon her own sense memories. Thus, the memory is evoked for us in a much clearer way. Summary Through the pet's skill in using appropriately simple words, structure and rhythm, to recreate her earliest memory, she successfully involves us in the poem. For all its simplicity, the poem has a gentle robustness to it. We share the uncluttered goodness of the incident and are left with some wistful longings for our own childhood. Sample Poem 2 Read “The African Beggar” below and try your hand at analysing the poem. African Beggar  Raymond Tong Sprawled in the dust outside the Syrian store, a target for small children, dogs and flies, a heap of verminous rags and matted hair, he watches us with cunning, reptile eyes, his noseless, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer. Sometimes he shows his yellow stumps of teeth and whines for alms, perceiving that we bear the curse of pity; a grotesque mask of death, with hands like claws about his begging-bowl. But often he is lying all alone within the shadow of a crumbling wall, lost in the trackless jungle of his pain, clutching the pitiless red earth in vain and whimpering like a stricken animal. Compare your analysis with the sample. Sample Analysis to “The African Beggar” Tone: repulsion; dislike. Then changes to pity; sympathy Mood: futility; desolation Theme: desolation of humanity's subsistence: the utter helplessness of humanity in the face of adversity, as well as our own neglect of self and others Stanza One: Introduces beggar as a repulsive outcast; a thing. How? • "sprawled in the dust..." —› beggar is treated immediately like a thing that has been thrown out - suggests shabby, lawless being. • "target..." —› (metaphor) beggar continues to be described as a thing - a convenience for others to use; singled out as an object for attack. "Dogs" and "flies" solidly establishes sub-human existence of beggar; "flies" suggest filth, a disease. That he is a target suggests his passiveness and helplessness. • "heap of verminous rags and matted hair" —› (metaphor) image of beggar is sustained as a thing : "verminous" is associated with the "flies", "matted hair: is associated with filth, dust, neglect of physical hygiene.   "he watches with cunning reptile eyes" —› (metaphor) a dramatic contrast: how can an inhuman bag of bones be capable of subtle and crafty scheming? Likened to an image of a "reptile" - like a snake, he watches, waiting for his prey. The pronoun "he" is used to remind us that this is a person and our revulsion is emphasised, for how can a human being be like this? • "noseless, smallpoxed face creased in a sneer" —›"noseless", "smallpoxed" suggests disease, leprosy which adds to the beggars repulsiveness. "Sneer" carries suggestion of the cunning reptile. To "sneer" shows arrogance. Stanza Two: Although the poet sustains the image of the beggar as a repulsive outcast, he introduces the sub-theme - our neglect and inadequacies in dealing with the problem of human neglect. How? • "yellow stumps of teeth" —› (metaphor) physical ugliness is emphasised; "yellow" is colour of disease and decay, rotten. Image of "stumps" is more appropriate for an animal than a human being. • "whines" —› (metaphor) cringing sound associated with animals. • "perceiving that we bear the curse of pity" —› poet leaves the description of the beggar and comments on the general attitude to poverty and disease. "The curse of pity" : "curse" suggests bad; "pity" suggests "good". We don't want to know about it, but if we do we should show pity and offer our help. • "grotesque mask of death" —› (metaphor) physical deformity and sub-human existence of beggar is emphasised. How can this thing/animal be really alive? "Mask of death" symbolises the "face of death" - an image of death staring at us. • "with hands like claws about his begging bowl" —› (simile) image is of a skeleton; death-like hands clinging to his only source of existence (the begging bowl). Stanza Three: Theme of suffering. Our feelings change from repulsion to sympathy. How? • "lying all alone" —› no longer "sprawled" but "lying" on the ground. The tone here is one of quietness - "all alone" suggests that he is no longer the target for others. It is the time to be aware of his suffering. • "shadow of a crumbling wall" —› "shadow" suggests absence of light; darkness. Image of loneliness with the shadow of death near. "crumbling" suggests decay and ruin; the lack of a home. • "lost in the trackless jungle of his pain" —› (metaphor) pain racks his entire body, so much that it consumes his total energy. "Trackless jungle" suggests the amount of pain - endless - filling and crammed into every part of his body. No escape from this pain. • "clutching the pitiless red earth in vain" —› (personification) "clutching" suggests the beggar's desperation. "Red" personifies the blood of life, nourishment, energy and strength, and "earth" is the sole source of humanity's existence. Even the earth is without pity. All "in vain" - there is no solution, no help. • "whimpering like a stricken animal" —› (simile) emphasises the beggar's total suffering; his total defeat.