HOW TO READ POETRY
Language is
the blood of the soul into which thoughts run
and out of
which they grow.
--Oliver Wendell
Holmes
There is more to poetry than meets
the eyes. What Shakespeare called "the mind's eye" plays a big part. Poetry
may state facts, but more important, it makes imaginative statements that
we may value even if its facts are incorrect. Poetry is not to be galloped
over like the daily newspaper. At first glance, a poem will make some sense
and give some pleasure, but it may not yield everything at once.
So, how do you read a poem?
Read it once straight through,
open-mindedly, with no particular expectations. Let yourself experience
whatever you find. On the second reading, read for the exact sense of all
words. If there are words you don't understand, look them up ( The
WWWebster Dictionary ) If a
poet troubles to seek out the best words available, the least we can do
is to find out what the words mean. If the poems are more than a century
old, a dictionary is indispenable. Meanings change.
Read slowly, carefully, attentively.
Good poems yield more if read twice and the best poems - after 10, 20,
or 100 times.
Read the poem aloud or have someone
else read it to you. You may discover meanings you didn't perceive before.
Deciding how to speak a poem can be an excellent method of getting
to understand it. We all make our own interpretations. Our individual perceptions/understandings
can not be proven wrong.
Try paraphrasing a poem (line
by line). Put into your own words what you understand the poem to say.
This may seem heartless, but a good poem can stand it. Paraphrasing can
also help you see the thought of the poem, its theme.
A "Glossary of Literary Terms"
specific to poetry has been provided. It may be helpful to you as you become
more acquainted in the pleasure of reading poetry.) GLOSSARY
OF POETRY TERMS The listing is in no way a complete listing of all
literary terms associated with poetry or literature in general.
Keep in mind the following:
-
Determine the type of poem it is
-
Voice - who is speaking? Poems are
personal. The expressions belong to a specific person - an individual human
voice. The "speaker" in a poem does not have to be human; good poems have
been uttered by clouds, pebbles, cats..........
-
Look at the title of the poem...is
there symbolism? What's the connection with the poem?
-
What is the tone? - attitude toward
the person addressed - Experiencing a poem fully means being open to the
poem and its surprises.
-
Situation and setting - What is happening?
Where is it happening? Who is the speaker speaking to? Who else is present?
-
Word order - the positioning of words
in relation to one another
-
Precision order - the exactness,
accuracy of language or description
-
syntax - the formal arrangement of
words in a sentence
-
-
Imagery - a word or sequence of words
that refers to any sensory experience; to speak of all images together
is often more useful than to speak of separate images.
-
sight (visual imagery)
-
sound (auditory imagery)
-
touch (tactile imagery)
-
-
Figures of Speech
-
Figurative Language - All figurative
language involves an attempt to clarify something and to help readers
feel a certain way about it.
-
Structure - the pattern of organization
-
Narrative - straight forward; chronological
-
Dramatic - consists of a series of
scenes or experiences
-
Discursive - purely descriptive of
someone or something
-
Imitative - mirrors as exactly as
possible the structure of something that already exists as an object and
can be seen
-
Reflective (or Meditative) - ponders
a subject, theme, or event - and let's the mind play with it
-
Sound and Sight - Poems are full
of sounds and silences as well as words and sentences that are meaningful.
These are the "special effects" of poetry.
-
Technopaegnia - the construction
of poems with visual effect. A few poems are written to be seen rather
than heard, and their appearance on the page is crucial to their effect.
-
e.e. cumming's poetry is very visual
-
Archetypal
Imagery and Symbols