Analyzing the Poem

Initial Reading

Read the poem closely, at least once out loud. Poetry is meant to be heard, like the music it is. Try to read it over until you sound comfortable saying it (you do not automatically stop at the end of each line). Try to read using the punctuation.

Keyword Search

Look at the poem closely and paraphrase a line at a time. What words or pictures seem to stand out? Are any unusual words capitalized? Has the poet structured the poem to highlight specific lines or words?

Triggering Subject

Examine the first few lines for the triggering subject. This is the subject that causes the poem to be written, the initiating subject. It may be an event, an object, or a thought. Occsionally, an emotion is attached to the triggering subject.

These initial steps are intended to familiarize you with the poem. Once there, you need to begin looking for how the poet develops the generated subject (the primary metaphor and any additional themes) of the poem. A poet accomplishes this through the following Tools.