Reading for Analysis

Reading for Analysis

Understanding Poetry

• Begin with an initial read-through to grasp the overall mood, theme and direction of the poem.
• Pay attention to the title. It is often a key to understanding the poem.
• Identify the speaker or narrator of the poem. This may not necessarily be the poet.

Structural Analysis

• Recognise the form of the poem: is it a sonnet, a ballad, an epic, or free verse?
• Identify the meter and rhyme scheme, if any.
• Note the line breaks and stanzaic structure. These might contribute to the meaning or deliver a specific effect.

Language and Imagery

• Highlight striking or unusual images. Why might the poet have chosen these?
• Look for similes, metaphors, and other figures of speech. What do they reveal about the poem’s theme or the speaker’s state of mind?
• Pay attention to diction: are words formal, casual, archaic, slang, etc?

Interpretation

• Once you’ve noted down all these features, ask yourself what effect they collectively produce.
• Formulate your interpretation of the poem. It’s important to support your interpretation with evidence from the poem.

Remember, there is no necessarily ‘correct’ reading of a poem, different interpretations can be valid. However, they should be grounded in a careful, detailed analysis of the text.