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• Read the poem again and find the literal meaning of the poem. The
literal meaning is the most straightforward version of the poem and
does not refer to any poetic devices. Translate the poem into
conversational English. How would you tell the poem’s story to a
friend? Think in terms of, “What’s the most common dictionary
definition of this word or phrase?” This can be a difficult step, but
remember that all good poetry, even when it seems incredibly
inaccessible, is still based on words that carry literal meaning.
STEP 3
• Re-read the poem to find the connotative meaning of the
poem. Take several keywords or phrases from the poem and consider
the kinds of connotations they carry. Think in terms of, “Why this
word and not another?” Refer to your first reactions: often
connotative meanings, rather than denotative, are what engage our
emotions.Take the word “mother,” for example. The dictionary would
define mother as “a female parent.” OK, but the word “mother”
probably creates emotions and feelings in you: it paints a picture in
your mind. You may think of love and security or you may think of
your own mother. The emotions and feelings that a word creates are
called its connotative meaning.
• STEP 4
• Identify the speaker and audience. Is there a specific person talking?
Is the speaker the poet? Even if the speaker is the poet, you should
always refer to the speaker as ‘the speaker’ in your analysis. In
regards to the audience, who is the speaker addressing? Is there a
specific group? Does the audience help to define who the speaker is?
• Determine the poem’s structure and organization. Does the poem
follow a narrative? Are there ideas grouped together in different
sections? Does each stanza cover a separate topic, or is there a
continued theme throughout the poem? How is the poem physically
organized--it is one long poem, or does it have stanzas or separate
lines?
• Find the symbolic meaning of the poem. Record any allusions you
recognize, references to symbols, etc. Think in terms of, “What could
this stand for? Why?”For example, consider the word "light." This
may not refer to the literal condition that means the opposite of
darkness; often "light" is used to symbolize knowledge, truth, peace,
joy, or spirituality.
• Stop and ask yourself, “What is the author trying to say?” What is
his goal for this poem? What kind of a reaction is he trying to get out
of readers? Why?” Try to identify the author’s purpose for writing
• Determine the rhyme scheme of the poem. There are many different kinds of
rhyme schemes. Rhymes are used to give the poem a musical, pleasing sound. They
can also be used to deepen meaning, and strengthen the form of the poem. Is
there any meaning behind the placement of the rhymes? Does it put emphasis on a
specific idea within the poem?End rhymes are one of the most common forms of
rhymes. When the last word of a line rhymes with another last word of a rhyme,
this is considered an end rhyme.
• Internal rhymes are when words in the middle of line rhyme with other words in
the middle of a different line. In a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he writes “The
fair breeze blew, the white foam flew.” "Blew" and "flew" are examples of internal
rhymes.
• True rhymes are words that rhyme exactly. For example, the words “cat” and “rat”
are perfect rhymes.
• Off-rhymes or "slant rhymes" are words that almost rhyme, but do not rhyme
exactly. For example, the words “fate” and “saint” are off rhymes--they sound very
similar, but very subtly end in a different way. Off rhymes use assonance and
consonance.
• Assonance is when the vowels of two words rhyme, while consonance is when the constants
of two words are the same.
• nalyze the poem in terms of poetic devices. Look for tools of sound (alliteration,
assonance, etc.), imagery (sensory detail, word pictures, etc.) and so forth. Think in terms
of, "What kind of language tools is this author using? How do those tools help him
accomplish his goal?"What imagery does the author use? Does he use metaphor, simile,
orpersonification? In “The Vagabond Song,” Carmen personifies fall, saying that she is a
woman and that “she calls and calls each vagabond by name.” By making the fall into a
woman, Carmen draws parallels between the idea of a seductive woman tempting him
with the fall calling him to the wilderness to revel in its beauty.
• Does the poet use alliteration? Alliteration is when words in a line begin with the same
letter. An example would be, “the terrifying tiger tackled the traumatized toad.”
• How would you define the poem’s language (or diction?) Did the author choose to put
specific words in the poem for a reason? Is the language flowery? Stark? Sad? In “The
Vagabond Song,” the diction is whimsical but filled with passion. The color red, which is
the color of passion, is referred to throughout the poem. Blood, crimson leaves, scarlet
maples, and hills of flame all make an appearance in the poem lending the poem a sense
of vitality and passion.
My Parents
My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the
street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country
streams.
I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron
Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms
I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.
They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges