Understanding Traditional Poetry

 

Look at these four areas when trying to understand the meaning of a poem.

 

  1. The poem’s content:
    1. What does the writing literally say? What is the logical content?
    2. What is the emotive content?  Figurative language?  Does the poem make you feel good, bad, happy, sad, etc.

 

  1. Classification of the poem. What type of poem is this? (Separate sheet) Does this help to decipher the poem?
    1. Narrative
    2. Lyric
    3. Dramatic

 

  1. Structure of the poem.  Sometimes the structure helps figure out the meaning.
    1. Stanza

a.) Number of lines per stanza

    1. Lines

a.)     foot prosody (how many feet per line)

b.)    stress prosody (how many stresses per line)

c.)     syllabic prosody (how many syllables per line)

d.)    line length (long line – serious; short line – light and happy)

    1. Fulcrum – The turning point in the poem. (climax).
    2. Rhyme scheme – The poet can hint at what’s important by the pattern.

a.)     Finding rhyme scheme  - the pattern or sequence in which rhyme occurs.

b.)    Assonance – similar vowel sounds within the lines of poetry.

c.)     Consonance – similar consonant sounds within the lines of poetry.

  1. Figurative language.
    1. Simile: Compare two things. Use the words “like” or “as”. (My fist is like a rock.)
    2. Metaphor: Compare two things. Say one thing is another thing. (My fist is a rock.)
    3. Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human, non-living things.(The mountain stood firm.) (The curtains danced in the wind.)
    4. Apostrophe: Direct address to an abstract quality or absent person. (“Oh Springtime, thou art lovely.”) (Screaming at your car when it won’t start. “I hate you.”)
    5. Irony: Intended meaning is opposite of what is expressed. Outcome is unexpected. (An anti-capitalist website sells anti-capitalism t-shirts for a profit.)
    6. Analogy: Similarity in certain aspects between things otherwise unlike. Does not make a direct comparison. (heart/pump)
    7. Metonymy: Using a word associated with an object, to replace that object. (the white house said today.) (pay tribute to the crown)
    8. Synecdoche: Using a word expressing part of a thing that represents the whole thing. (mouths to feed.) (wheels/ car) (all hands on deck/ crew)