To Interpret a Poem One Should First Read the

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As an art form, poetry has a unique style and form compared to other types of writing. Poesy includes deliberate line breaks, audio patterns, and rhythm, which makes it different from prose and contributes to how readers empathize it. To empathize verse, you must consider the literal and figurative meanings in the poem, and determine how these two meanings interact and intersect. You tin can sympathise a poem past considering the subject and form of the poem as well as the manner and the context. You should and then effort to decipher the figurative meaning of the poem to deepen your understanding of the piece.

1. 1

   Read the poem out loud. Poetry is oft written for the ear, so you should outset by reading the poem out loud every bit information technology volition assist you listen to the verse form more closely. Listen to the poem line by line, word by word. Notice the sounds the words make in your mouth. You may start to notice that the poem is using certain furnishings, like rhyming, word patterns, or line breaks, to create a certain mood or tone. Try to listen to what might be going on in the poem, especially the first time you read the poem out loud.^[1]

   • You will need to read the poem out loud at least 3 times and really listen to each word on the page. If you are uncomfortable with reading verse out loud, y'all may ask a friend or peer to read information technology for you and so you tin can listen more closely without beingness distracted by your voice.
   • The offset time you read the poem out loud, focus on the imagery of the poem. But mind to the words and find the impression you go from them.
   • The second time you read the poem out loud, pay attention to the activeness. What is happening in the poem?
   • The third fourth dimension, focus on the sounds. How do they dissimilarity with or contribute to your understanding of the poem?

2. 2

   Brand sure you read the verse form in full. To fully sympathize the verse form as a whole, you should make sure you read the poem from get-go to finish. Read the title of the verse form every bit well every bit the author, if noted. You should as well read whatsoever endnotes or footnotes at the lesser of the poem, if any. The poem was written to class a whole piece, or piece of work of art, and so you lot should ensure that you read and digest all of it.

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3. 3

   Marking downwardly notes on the poem as yous read it. You should have a pencil or pen ready every bit you read the poem out loud and in your head several times. Underline any words that have a strong significant or an interesting audio to your ear. Circle any words that you lot find disruptive or that bound out at you every bit important.^[two]

   • You can also write notes to yourself in the margins of the poem. You may put a question mark side by side to a passage or line that strikes yous as foreign or unique. You may also write a annotation almost the sound of certain lines or drawn arrows connecting certain lines to each other.

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1. i

   Consider the championship of the verse form. Yous should ever start with the title of the poem, every bit the title tin can tell yous a lot as a reader. Determine what the championship is telling yous and what expectations the title creates for you as a reader. You can use the title every bit a jumping off point for analyzing the rest of the verse form.

   • Maybe the championship tells you about the discipline of the verse form, such as "Love and Friendship", or the championship labels the verse form equally a specific literary genre or blazon, such as "Ode to Melancholy" or "Sonnet xiv." Apply the title as the first clue to what the poem might be about every bit well equally certain themes or ideas in the poem.
   • Write down your initial reaction to the championship in the margins of the poem or on a piece of paper. What are your thoughts and expectations virtually the poem based on the championship alone?

2. 2

   Identify the principal bailiwick of the poem. One time you take read the poem several times, out loud and to yourself, you should endeavor to identify the master discipline of the poem. Effort to answer the question, what or who is the poem about? Try to be as detailed and precise equally possible when you answer this question. Avoid a general statement or a vague impression of the subject of the poem.

   • For instance, perhaps you are trying to understand the poem, "I Hear America Singing" past Walt Whitman.^[3]
   • You may determine that the poem is virtually America, both as a larger idea and as individual people office of a nation, such as "the boatman, the mason, the carpenter, the mother." You may also think the poem is trying to expect at the uniqueness of each individual American, where "Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else" as well as how this uniqueness contributes to the idea of America as ane nation, united.^[iv]

3. 3

   Determine the central situation in the poem. You lot should consider the premise or situation of the poem. Determining the situation of the poem will help you become some grounding in the piece and situate yourself every bit a reader.

   • Ask yourself several questions, such as, What appears to be going on in the poem? Who is talking and to whom? Where is the verse form taking place? Why is the poem existence told? Does the verse form accept a turning bespeak where the tone, focus, or rhyme scheme changes?
   • For instance, perhaps yous are analyzing Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."^[v]
   • You may annotation that the speaker of the poem is "the negro" of the title and the poem is existence told to help share the negro'due south story and his history. You lot may realize that the poem is acting every bit a testament to the life of the negro, literally and figuratively.

4. 4

   Note any references to literary or historical events. You should look for any allusions, or references to literary events or historical events in the poem, as well equally known historical or literary figures. Often, these events or figures are in the poem for a reason. They may help to provide context for the verse form and assist you better understand the poem equally a reader.^[6]

   • For example, you may notice that in Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", there are references to "the Euphrates", "the Congo", "the Nile", "the Mississippi", and "New Orleans." Each of these rivers was important to black civilization, which helps the reader see the unity in blackness culture.^[7]
   • The poem also references the historical figure "Abraham Lincoln."^[viii] These references are important because they tell the reader nearly the history of "the negro", placing the subject field in the context of earth history and American history.

5. 5

   Inquiry some background on the author of the poem. To get further context on the verse form, you should likewise assemble information about the author of the poem, or the poet. Y'all may wait up the poet online or at your local library. You can then utilise this context to help you determine the themes of the poem.^[9]

   • Read up on biographical information about the poet, such as where they are from, the fourth dimension menses they were writing within, and their other poems or publications. You should also read full general thoughts on the poet's writing concerns and common themes that ascend in their other poems.

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1. 1

   Expect upwards the pregnant of words you do non understand. You should focus on analyzing the verse form on a deeper level by looking at the word choice in the poem. There may be words you empathise and words that are unfamiliar to you, likewise equally words that have multiple meanings. Look up any words that you do not recognize using a good lexicon. Consider how the significant of the words fit within the residue of the verse form.^[ten]

   • For example, in "I Hear America Singing" past Walt Whitman, you may discover the words "varied" and "animated".^[11] You may then look up these words and detect how they add together meaning to a line in verse form or how they add meaning to the poem overall.

2. two

   Consider the verbs used in the verse form. You lot should also wait at the verbs used in the verse form. Verbs imply action and they can often tell you what is going on in the poem on a deeper level. Underline the verbs in the poem and consider how they function in each line of the verse form.^[12]

   • For case, if you analyzing Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", you may discover that Hughes uses the verbs "known", "bathed", "built", "looked", and "heard". These verbs are a mix of active and passive verbs, where the speaker is doing something actively, like bathing or building, so becomes more than passive, such as looking or hearing.^[13]

3. 3

   Annotation the sound and rhythm of the poem. Y'all should read the verse form out loud and consider how sure lines audio. Is there a rhythm or a rhyme to the lines? Are certain words emphasized in the poem because of the way the lines are broken upwards or due to a rhyming pattern? You should consider how these elements chronicle to the poem'due south significant. You should besides recollect most the consequence created by the sound and rhythm in the verse form.^[14]

   • You should try to identify the metrical pattern of the poem. Does every other line rhyme or every 3rd line? Is there ingemination, where words starting time with the same alphabetic character in a row in the aforementioned line?
   • For example, you may exist analyzing the verse form "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" past Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Yous may find that the poem follows a certain rhyming pattern, where the 2nd and fourth lines of every stanza rhyme.^[fifteen]
   • In contrast, you may look at "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, where there appears to be no rhyming in the poem. But you may detect that the poem still has a sure rhythm when read out loud.^[xvi]

4. 4

   Expect at how the poem is ordered or sectioned off. Yous should pay close attention to how the verse form'due south lines are divided or sectioned off. The lines may be broken into stanzas, where there is the same number of lines in each stanza. Or the lines may be separated using line breaks, where the line seems to shift correct or left across the page. The sectioning of the lines was washed on purpose by the poet then you should consider how information technology adds to the meaning of the poem.^[17]

   • For case, in Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", you may detect that the third line of the poem is indented so there is a line suspension. This creates a certain rhythm when the poem is read out loud or in your head, putting a stress on the word "menses", and making you intermission on the last line of the stanza.^[xviii]
   • You may also notice that the quaternary line of the poem stands on its own as a single line. Hughes seems to be trying to emphasize the importance of this line, forcing the reader to slow down and take in the line as a whole.

5. v

   Note the mood of the poem. The mood of the verse form can exist creepy or unsettling, or it can be thing of fact and friendly. The mood is ofttimes evoked using word choice, rhythm, imagery, and description. Determining the mood of the poem can help you lot access a deeper meaning. Enquire yourself, what is the sense I become of the poem when I read it? How do I experience when I read it?^[19]

   • For case, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, you may feel the mood of the poem is celebratory and joyous, specially with the employ of the words "succulent", "robust", "friendly", and "melodious".^[20]

6. 6

   Pay attention to the poem'south tone. The tone in the poem is based on how the speaker sounds or appears to view their subject, which depends on how they feel about their subject field. The speaker'southward tone could be happy, sad, angry, critical, or distant.

   • For example, the tone of the speaker in "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman appears to exist thoughtful, observant, and appreciative of the songs America sings.^[21]

7. 7

   Place the form of the poem. You should place the course of the poem to deepen your understanding of its meaning and intent. You tin use elements like rhyme scheme, section breaks, and word choice in the poem to help yous identify the grade.^[22]

   • For example, if you were analyzing "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman^[23] , you lot may find that none of the lines rhyme and the lines seem to organized in a free flowing mode, with no stanzas and short line breaks. You may then determine that the verse form is written in the complimentary verse class.
   • If yous were analyzing "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge^[24] , you lot may observe that it follows a certain rhyming scheme and has stanzas that are iv or vi lines long. Yous may determine that the poem follows the carol form, though loosely and with some exceptions.

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1. i

   Expect for metaphors, similes, and imagery in the poem. To go more into the figurative meaning of the poem, y'all should look at how the poet uses literary devices like metaphor, simile, and imagery. These devices are often used to add deeper pregnant to a line or word, every bit well as pregnant to the poem as a whole.

   • A metaphor is when a subject uses another subject or object to create pregnant. For example, if you lot were analyzing Emily Dickinson's poem "Fame is a Fickle Food", you may detect the poem uses the metaphor: "Fame is a fickle food/Upon a shifting plate."^[25]
   • A simile compares two subjects or objects to each other using "as" or "like". For case, in Langston Hughes' verse form "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", the speaker uses a simile to describe themselves: "My soul has grown deep similar the rivers."^[26]
   • Imagery is used to create mental images or pictures in the reader'south mind. The poet may use metaphor, simile, and other literary devices to create strong imagery in the poem. For example, in "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, Whitman ends the verse form with striking imagery about the songs of America that uses description, stiff discussion choice, and activity: "Singing with open mouths their potent melodious songs."^[27]

2. 2

   Clarify the figurative language in the verse form. You can access the figurative meaning of the poem by because how the poet uses figurative language. Figurative language could exist words that are repeated ofttimes in the poem or words that rhyme in each stanza. Figurative linguistic communication could as well be a metaphor or simile that is repeated more than in one case or that is used to brainstorm or end the poem.^[28]

   • For example, in "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, the word "singing" appears ten times in the poem. This is a skillful indication that information technology has figurative depth in the poem that is of import and holds significant.^[29]
   • In Emily Dickinson'south poem "Fame is a Fickle Nutrient", the give-and-take "fame" appears but once in the verse form in the first line. But information technology is explored through the use of nutrient imagery, indicating that nutrient is a key figurative chemical element in the verse form, especially in relation to fame.^[thirty]
   • Pay special attention to nouns that stand out and seem to have special meaning. These words may be symbolic and figurative.

3. 3

   Read the first and last lines of the poem closely. You lot should besides pay attention to how the poet opens and closes the poem, as these lines are oftentimes important. The poet may begin with a specific question in the first line that is then answered or addressed in the concluding line. The poet may also use the offset line as a jumping off point, or a point of exploration that is then summed up in the final line of the poem.^[31]

   • For example, in Emily Dickinson's poem "Fame is a Fickle Food", the first line "Fame is a fickle nutrient" acts equally a sort of prompt or proposition. Dickinson and so explores this first line in the residuum of the poem and ends with a striking line, "Men eat of information technology and die."^[32]
   • The last line in the poem sums up the showtime line of the verse form by indicating what happens when you try to swallow the fickle food of fame and try to enjoy fame. Dickinson suggests that eating fame leads to death, or a very unhappy end.

4. 4

   Try to sum up the figurative significant of the poem in a few sentences. Once you take considered the language use, the imagery, and specific cardinal lines in the poem, you should endeavor to write downwards the meaning of the poem from your point of view. You tin can paraphrase the verse form in your own words or create a few sentences that sum up the figurative meaning of the poem. Answer the question, What is the poem trying to say? or What was my experience of reading and analyzing the poem?^{[33] [34]}

   • For example, you may paraphrase or sum upward Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by focusing on how "the negro" speaker uses rivers to communicate and exist.^[35] You lot may paraphrase the poem as being about how the figure of the negro is connected to the natural world and to the history of man through rivers. Y'all may note that Hughes seems to betoken that the negro has a soul that is deep, wide, and bountiful, an essential role of nature that cannot be segregated based on skin tone or race.
   • Keep in mind in that location is no one right manner to interpret a poem or understand it more than deeply. If you accept your own specific have on the poem, you lot should use evidence in the poem to support your estimation and explore it more fully.

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• Question

  How do you lot understand poetry?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Customs Higher in Texas. He received his PhD in English language Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

  English language Professor

  Expert Answer

• Question

  How do you know the theme of a poem?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Offshoot Assistant Professor of English language at Austin Community Higher in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

  English Professor

  Proficient Answer

  

  Support wikiHow past unlocking this skilful answer.

  Think about the title, structure, utilize/repetition of words, and the literary devices of the poem to assistance determine the poem's main idea. If you are having problem with these, consider also the background of the author.

• Question

  How exercise you read poetry?

  

  Christopher Taylor is an Offshoot Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the Academy of Texas at Austin in 2014.

  

  English language Professor

  Adept Answer

• Question

  What techniques can I apply to amend understand a verse form inside a short fourth dimension frame, such as on an exam or exam?

  

  Read the poem out loud to yourself or in your caput several times. Circumvolve and underline key words or lines, noting words or lines that are repeated in the poem. Consider the title inside the context of the poem. Look for figurative linguistic communication (metaphor, simile, imagery) and consider the tone and mood of the speaker in the poem. Effort your best to answer the question, What is the poem about? with detailed sentences, focusing on the literal and figurative pregnant of the poem.

• Question

  One long paragraph is not a rhyme design. What would it be called?

  

  Paragraphs don't appear in poesy. You would find them simply in prose.

• Question

  I can't read poems aloud in exam conditions. What could I do instead?

  

  Read under your jiff if possible, or else make a conscious endeavour to "say" the words in your head, focusing on what the words *would* sound like.

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Commodity Summary X

To understand a poem, read the verse form out loud from first to stop, along with any endnotes or footnotes at the bottom. Next, effort to determine the central situation in the verse form, await up any words that you aren't familiar with, and examine the offset and last lines of the verse form closely for clues. Then, consider the mood, tone, and form of the poem before moving on to decipher imagery, metaphors, and similes. It can also assist to practice a little research on the author to gain insight into the poem! For tips on deciphering imagery, read on!

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