GUIDE ON HOW TO ANALYZE A POEM

.    FORMAL ASPECTS: Ask yourself the following questions

1. Do I know the meaning of every word? Read the poem and use the dictionary to look up the words you don’t know (it’s also a good idea to identify the most important words and to look them up in the dictionary in case they have several meanings. Suggestion: Use an official dictionary.)
2. Put the poem in a literary context. (Who wrote it? When was it written? What literary movement does it belong to? What are the main characteristics of the movement? To what extent are the characteristics present in the poem?)
3. What type of poem is it? (Sonnet, romance, etc.)
4. Identify the meter and rhyme (in our case, only identify the rhyme)
5. What’s the poem’s style? Is it a dialogue or a monologue? (If it’s necessary, difference between dialogue and monologue by using the dictionary)
6. Whose poetic voice do we listen to? Explain the poem verse by verse (Who’s talking? Who’s he/she talking to? What happens in each verse? What’s repeated? Etc. Always think, Why? And, What’s its effect?)
7. What’s the tone of the poem (the speaker’s attitude towards the subject)?
8. What rhetorical figures are used? (Keep in mind other figures you’ve read in previous texts.)