How to Read a Poem
1.
Read the poem OUT LOUD. We can understand context
and meaning more when we hear the words we read.
Reading out loud also slows our reading speed down and
helps us to focus more on the ideas being presented.
Additionally, the language of poetry is crafted to sound on
our ears and create harmony, dissidence, or a mix of both.
3.
Look for FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE and consider how
it helps create the meaning of the poem with the images it
shows.
A.
Comparisons (Similes and Metaphors)
The Alarm Clock
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of the easy wind and downy flake.
Alarm Clock
sure sound
loud
this mornin’…
remind me of the time
I sat down
in a drug store
with my
mind far away off…
until the girl and she was
small it seems to me
with yellow hair
a hangin’
smiled up and said
“I’m sorry but
we don’t serve
B.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Personification
"Ah, William, we're weary of weather,"
said the sunflowers, shining with dew.
"Our traveling habits have tired us.
Can you give us a room with a view?"
They arranged themselves at the window
and counted the steps of the sun,
and they both took root in the carpet
where the topaz tortoises run.
C.
Read the SENTENCES of a poem and not just the lines.
COUNT the number of sentences in a poem to see how
many “thought units” it contains.
Your world is as big as you make it.
I know, for I used to abide
In the narrowest nest in a corner,
My wings pressing close to my side.
1st sentences
But I sighted the distant horizon
Where the skyline encircled the sea
And I throbbed with a burning desire
To travel this immensity.
2nd Sentence
I battered the cordons around me
And cradled my wings on the breeze,
Then soared to the uttermost reaches
With rapture, with power, with ease!
3rd Sentence
4th Sentence
Symbol
Your World
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Until That Day Comes
Brian Eves
Dim light is best.
Although the page I read,
Half shadowed, is hard for sight,
The words and people at the edge of text,
Make for me a worthwhile journey.
Like a day beginning with dark morning clouds
Riding on Naomi Peak with
Muted yellow bellies.
Seeing and not seeing, moving forward,
Trusting my feet in half-light,
Feeling for the unknown word,
The strange and familiar person.
Mari Evans
Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room
William Blake
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2.
you people
here”
and I woke up
quick
like I did this mornin’
when the alarm
went off…
it don’t do
to wake up
quick…
4.
Define Words and Research Concepts you do not know
and grow your own Cultural Eye.
How to Read a Poem
(cont.)
Poems can be read many ways. The following steps
describe one approach. Of course not all poems require
close study and all should be read first for pleasure.
• Look at the poem’s title: What might this poem be
about?
• Read the poem straight through without stopping to
analyze it (aloud, if possible).
This will help you get a sense of how it sounds, how it
works, what it might be about.
• Start with what you know. If the poem is difficult,
distinguish between what you do and do not understand.
If permissible, underline the parts you do not
immediately understand.
• Check for understanding: Write a quick “firstimpression” of the poem by answering the questions,
“What do you notice about this poem so far?” and “What
is this poem about?”
• Look for patterns. Watch for repeated, interesting, or
even unfamiliar use of language, imagery, sound, color,
or arrangement. Ask, “What is the poet trying
to show through this pattern?”
• Look for changes in tone, focus, narrator, structure,
voice, patterns. Ask: “What has changed and what does
the change mean?”
• Identify the narrator. Ask: Who is speaking in the
poem? What do you know about them?
• Check for new understanding. Re-read the poem
(aloud, if you can) from start to finish, underlining
(again) those portions you do not yet understand.
Explain the poem to yourself or someone else.
• Find the crucial moments. The pivotal moment might
be as small as the word but or yet. Such words often act
like hinges within a poem to swing the poem in a whole
new direction. Also pay attention to breaks between
stanzas or between lines.
• Consider form and function. Now is a good time to
look at some of the poet’s more critical choices. Did the
poet use a specific form, such as the sonnet?
How did this particular form---e.g., a sonnet---allow
them to express their ideas? Did the poet use other
specific poetic devices which you should learn so
you can better understand the poem? Examples might
include: enjambment, assonance, alliteration, symbols,
metaphors, or allusions. Other examples
might include unusual use of capitalization, punctuation
(or lack of any), or typography. Ask. “How is the poet
using punctuation in the poem?”
• Check for improved understanding. Read the poem
through again, aloud if possible. Return to the title and
ask yourself what the poem is about and how the poem
relates to the title.
How to Read a Poem:
Beginner's Manual
by Pamela Spiro Wagner
First, forget everything you have learned,
that poetry is difficult,
that it cannot be appreciated by the likes of
you,
with your high school equivalency diploma,
your steel-tipped boots,
or your white-collar misunderstandings.
Do not assume meanings hidden from you:
the best poems mean what they say and
say it.
To read poetry requires only courage
enough to leap from the edge
and trust.
Treat a poem like dirt,
humus rich and heavy from the garden.
Later it will become the fat tomatoes
and golden squash piled high upon your
kitchen table.
Poetry demands surrender,
language saying what is true,
doing holy things to the ordinary.
Read just one poem a day.
Someday a book of poems may open in
your hands
like a daffodil offering its cup
to the sun.
When you can name five poets
without including Bob Dylan,
when you exceed your quota
and don't even notice,
close this manual.
Congratulations.
You can now read poetry.