Explicating a Poem

1. First, what is the title of the poem and who wrote the poem? Why did you select this poem over
the others available for use for this task?
2. Secondly, read the poem. What is your initial, personal response to the poem? Then reread the
poem. Did your response to the poem change when you read it a 2 nd time or when you read it
aloud? Is there a specific image, sound, line, word or section of the poem that particularly strikes
you; even if you do not know why? If so, Identify it. Does the poem remind you of anything in
your own life? Explain.
3. What is in fact happening in the poem? Is there a story, a scene, a picture? It is a mistake to
begin worrying about the theme or the symbolism of the poem before you notice what is
straightforwardly and literally happening in it.
4. Is there a persona, speaker or character in the poem? Who is he/she? What specific clues are
there in the poem that tells you what he or she is like? Is the personas voice the same as the
poets?
5. Describe the world of the poem; the setting, both physical and social.
6. What is the relation or tension between the speaker and the world of the poem? Is it comfortable
or uncomfortable? Does any change take place?
7. Look at the images in the poem. Which are based on the sense of sight, sound, taste, touch,
smell and/or movement? Do the images form a pattern? Are there several discreet images or
one extended image?
8. Pay attention to the sound of the poem. Read it aloud-again and again. Do you notice any
pattern in the rhythm or rhyme? Do you notice any repetition in the use of vowel sounds or
consonants?
9. Notice the title of the poem. How does it comment on or extend the content of the poem? Also,
notice any additional material, such as footnotes or epigraphs.
10. Pay attention to the beginning and the ending of the poem. Try to think of alternative beginnings
and endings and how they could change the poem. Also consider why the changes would be
warranted.
11. What is the overall mood and tone of the poem? What emotions does the poem cause you to
feel-aside from the dread you feel as you complete this task in preparation for writing a paper on
a poem?
12. Finally, what does the poem mean? Notice that this is not the first question to ask about a poem,
but it is the last.
Please note: Your essay must include line references as support of your claims & are due
Friday, October 30, 2015.
Paper Requirements: No required number of pages; Respond in essay format;
type in Arial with a font size of 10; due at the start of class on the date due!