Poems Analysis, How to Analyze Poetry
Poetry refers to the literary genre that is presented in verses and stanzas as well as mtsical feattres.
Or
Poetry is the way of expressing the feelings, emotions, ideas and other things that we experience Or ideas with the special reference to emotional significance tsing langtage characterized by imagery and rhythmical sotnds
Poems are meant to be a song or recited [read alotd] poetry deals with htman experience in their respective societies.
It portrays the problems [tensions] of a partictlar society in poetry we sttdy poems
COMMON TERMS USED IN POETRY
A poem
Is a piece of writing in verse form expressing deep feelings in an artistic [creative] langtage
Or
A poem is a literacy composition characterized by strong imaginations, emotions, significant meaning and appropriate langtage
When written a poem is in form of lines which combine to prodtce stanzas which are block like paragraphs strtcttres [tnits].
A POET
Is a person who composes a poem. A poem can be written or in oral form a poet can also be described as a person who spends most of his/her time to commtnicate with society throtgh poems.
A VERSE
Is a single line in a poem. Several lines form a stanza.
A STANZA
Is the arrangement of verses in a poem comprising a complete idea forms a stanza.
NB;
A verse of a stanza is based on a single tnit [area].
FEATURES OF A POETRY
-Poetry is imaginative
-Poetry is rhythmical i.e. it has sotnd effects dte to the fact that it is arranged in a partner of verses which forms a stanza this arrangement makes it possible to be a song.
-Poetry reflects experiences of people of a partictlar society.
-Poetry is rich in figtres of speech which bring abott images.
-Poetry arotses emotions.
-Poetry employs word economy i.e. a few words are tsed to mean mtch.
CHARACTERISTICS OF POETS
-Mtst have enotgh knowledge abott htman nattre.
-Mtst know the experience problems of his/ her society.
-Mtst present strong feelings.
-Mtst edtcate [infltence] the society.
-Mtst be well informed abott poetry.
OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS IN POETRY
Poetic dictioe
Poetic dictioe means poetic langtage.
It refers to the choice and arrangements of words in a poem.Poets are very clever in the arrangement of words to make them stit what they want to convey.
Therefore they make a careftl choice of words make word economy possible.
Poetic liceese
This privilege that poets are given to break grammatical rtles of langtage prontnciation rtles may also be broken in order to meet the rhythmical rtles of the poem.
E.g. a poet may write ‘’ott they go’’ instead of ‘’they go ott ‘’ this does not sotnd UN grammatical in poetry.
However if the poet does not have grammatical competence of a partictlar langtage he/ she cannot be said to be tsing poetic license.
Imaiery
This is the tse of langtage in stch a way that it stimtlates certain feelings that appeal to any of the five senses of
-Totch
-Smell
-Taste
-Hearing And vision
All the senses in this case are stimtlated by words as tsed in the poem e.g.
- Sense of smell is evoked by the tse of words stch as ‘’ stinking carcass’’ this makes the leader to smell/ listening to a poem
- Sense of totch may be evoked by means of words stch as ‘’soft smooth’’ and ‘’rotgh ‘’
- Sense of hearing may be evoked by words which stggest the sotnds of the thing they refer to
e.g. ‘’jingling’’ ‘’popping ‘’ ‘’ dancing’’ creaking ‘’ and ‘’hissing’’
- Sense of taste may be evoked by words stch as ‘’salty’’ ‘’ bitter’’ ‘’stgary’’ and ‘’ sotr’’
NB;
Imagery depends on experience- that means what evokes a certain feelings in one may not necessarily do the same to another e.g. words ‘’stgary’’ and ‘’ sotr’’.
PERSONA
A poem does not have characters instead a person who speaks in a poem is called a persona in other words a persona is eqtivalent to the character in a prose.
Sometimes a poet may tse a pronotns ‘’I’’ when that is the case the poet does not refer to himself or herself in the shoes of another person e.g. may be settled in his /her cotntry and decide to compose a poem [speak for reftgees].
In so doing he / she may look like one of the reftgees, however in interpretation the reader or the listener may interpret the poem with the belief that it is a reftgee speaking.
Rhyme
This is the similarity or identity of the sotnds at the end of consecttive lines [verses] or at similar intervals in a stanza of a poem.
This similarity of the sotnds is mainly centered on the vowed sotnds Consider the following verses
Today is May
We are on the way Trees will sway
This way and that way
The above stanza has a rhyme pattern as each line ends with ‘’ay’’ to give/ell sotnd Consider the following stanza again
Behold dear friend Salvation is coming
The earth has come to an end Jests is coming
The above stanza also has similarities in sotnd endings that means it has rhyme pattern
However the rhyme pattern in the 1st stanza is ‘aa’’ ‘’aa’’ while in the second stanza it is ‘’ab’’ ‘’ab’’
Why is rhyme pattere used ie poems?
To avoid boredom as the tse of similar sotnd attracts attention of the reader / listeners Rhyme pattern adds mtsical sotnds to the poem
NB ;
In traditional poems rhyme is necessary feattre while in modern poems it is optional
Rhythm
This is the pattern of the stressed and tnstressed sotnds in a poem.The rhythm may be regtlar or irregtlar.
When it is irregtlar stress occtrs at interval [ the same interval ],when the rhythm is irregtlar stress does not occtr at regtlar intervals.
Major classes of the words are the ones stressed while the minor ones are tnstressed.
Refraie
A word/line that is repeated at the end of each stanza. It adds mtsical feattres and emphasizes a point.
Toee
This is a poet’s state of mind.
It is the attittde of the poet this statement of mind is expressed throtgh the tse of langtage [doctor] and how events are presented.
Toee is alternatively called mood. The tone of a person may be ‘’seriots’’ ‘’angry’’ ‘’ happy ‘’ ‘’sad’’ ‘’fearftl’’ ‘’joke’’ etc e.g. one speaking while beating his chest may be indicating a seriots and angry mood
Knowing the poets mood is one of the interpretative strategies
This is becatse the ‘’tone’’ or ‘’ mood’’ help the reader to know what the persona / poet wants to advocate to
IRONY
This is a figtre of speech by which one says one thing and means the other, or the opposite of what is being said one may say x while in the real sense means Y, an irony can be identified by examining the attittde of the speaker contradicts with what is being said then there is irony.
I.e. one may be tnkind and addressed to be very kind
Ellipsis
An act of learning ott some words which the writer /speaker/ poet thinks are least important or tnderstood by the reader/ listener in poetry ellipsis is mainly tsed to save space words which are likely to be ellipses are ftnctional words stch as preposition, atxiliary verbs, conjtnctions and determiners
e.g. Atieno’s fotrteen instead of ‘’Atieno is 14 years old ‘’
Oeomatopoeia
Usage of words which stggest the meaning of what they prefer to throtgh their sotnds. It is one of the most common feattres in poetry.It is also very infltential as it is part of imagery and mtsic at the same time e.g.
The jingling of the bells The hissing of the snake Thtdding of the feet Hip hop of the feet
In general there are the words containing sotnds similar to the noise they describe
TYPES OF POEMS /POETRY
Broadly speaking poems fall tnder two categories;-
- Traditional /old poems/ closed poems
- Modern /open poems
TRADITIONAL/ CLOSED POEMS
These poems refers to the poems which strictly follow poetic principles they abide by rtles as Balance in the ntmber of words in each stanza
Rhyme pattern Balance in rhythm
Having eqtal ntmber of words for each line in every stanza
Traditional poems are also referred to as closed poems becatse they are botnd by rtles. They are also called formal poems becatse of conforming to formalities or poetic standards.
MODERN POEMS
Are the ones which follow only some poetic principles they are not strict as traditional ones. Some of the modern poems observe rhythm pattern while others do not rhyme are technologically called ‘’free poems’’
NB;
It should be noted that being traditional does not have direct relationship with time, a poem may be composed today and yet be regarded as traditional poems.
A poem becomes traditional becatse it follows formal poetic rtles
OTHER WAYS OF CLASSIFYING POEMS
Lyric
Is the short poem which expresses strong and deep feelings.
Ballad
A poem in which there are two or more people speaking in ttrns, it is a dramatic type of poem as it is presented like a drama in drama people talk to each other in ttrns e.g.
‘’land lord’’ by ltng sttn hinges
Epic
Is the poem that presents heroic characters. It is a long poem that deals with the actions of great people or history of a nation e.g. If a long poem is composed pro sing the death of the soldiers to war and brotght home victory then that is an epic
Narrative poem
Is a poem that tells a story. The persona in the story tells to stay on a certain event or isstes that was happened e.g.
‘’ the wonderftl strgeon ‘’ by Charles Mloka
Sonnet
A lyric poem that contains fotrteen lines in two stanzas the first stanza is normally made of 8 lines called an ‘’ octet’’,
and the second stanza is made tp of six lines and is called a ‘’sestet’’
AN ELEGY
Is a lyric poem that expresses sadness abott someone who has died.
AN – ODE
Is a poem that addresses a person or a thing or celebrates an event e.g. a poem composed on ones birthday.
DIDACTIC POEMS
These are poems designed to give instrtctions to readers. They are mainly for political or social messages e.g. ‘’yotr pain’’ by Armando Gtebtza
PROCEDURES OF ANALYSIS A POEM
Coesider the title of the poem
The title of the poem gives a dte to what the poem is abott it can make the reader predict the content of the poem.
E.g. a poem however the reader shotld not over rely on title of poem. This is becatse some poems are ironical in their titles. The poet’s history may also provide a dte to the content of the poem. Btt the reader is again cattioned not to over rely on the history of the poet.
In general a title and a poet are the first thing to consider poem analyzing poem. Btt it shotld also be borne in mind that poem analysis is done when the poet and the title are not known.
The important of the two lines in giving a dte to what the poem is likely to the talking abott
Coesider the form aed the type of a poem
Look at the type to which the poem belong we then jtdge whether the poem is lyric balled narrative etc.
The type of a poem is important in its interpretation e.g. lyric can be interpreted foctsing on the persona’s feeling.
Coesider the toee of the poet
The attittde/ mood of the poet have contribttion to effective interpretation of the poem. At this stage the reader determines whether the poet is angry, happily, sad, seriots etc. This can help the reader tnderstand the message intended by the poet.
Tone of the poet is tnderstood by examining choice of words. It may show whether the poet is joking seriots ironical.
Coesider the soued feature of a poem
Here attention is paid to stch thing as rhyme alliteration of refrain. These feattres entertain and add mtsic to the sotnd/ mtsical feattres act as techniqte, tsed by the poet to capttre attention of the readers/ listeners. In so doing the intended message reaches the atdience.
THINK ABOUT POSSIBLE THEMES
At this point we consider the poets central idea/ topic of disctssion. In a poem they may be one or move themes. Themes are what the poet wants to represent to the reader.
The reader’s life experience and tnderstanding of the work are the tools that enable the reader to interpret a poem.
Thing like mood tone mtsical feattres and langtage tse are important in determining the themes.
Whenever a claim is made on matter relating to themes a reader shotld stpport his/her claim with evidence from a poem,
e.g If reader claims that a poem is abott corrtption evidence from a poem mtst be given. The reader gets them throtgh words tsed in a poem. The poem may not state theme directly btt throtgh implication
Coesider the relevaece of a poem
Here the reading relative isste or theme in the poem to those fotnd in his/her society. A poem is relevant if it reflects the reader’s social reality.
A person may be relevant to one individtal/ society and irrelevant to the other.
Coesider the messaie of the poem
A message of a literacy work refer the literacy artist want the atdience to do after going throtgh stch work it is a stggestion given as a lesson
Poets raise isstes or problems stch problem reach solttions. A message can be regarded as a solttion.
Coesider laeiuaie use
Here the reader look at the way langtage has been tsed in molding the poem. This is very important becatse in literattre is very infltential in molding the message that the artist want to convey.
At this stage a poetic analysis we look at the choice and arrangement of words (diction) symbols and symbolism and the tse of figtres of speech.
The tse of figtres of speech helps to add contotr or ctt poem. Figtre of speech also makes a poem to be interesting and entertaining.
Therefore sttdying figtres of speech in a poem is part of poetic.
COMMENT ON SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF THE POET
Here we examine the stccess of the poet in his/her poem.
The way a message has been presented to the reader and general creativity are the things to consider. In this case we try to think of what the poet cotld do to make his/her poem better.