READING A POEM

SOME

GUIDELINES ON READING A POEM

Read a poem one time through to become familiar

Think about poem as you are reading

Your sense of what’s going on should

shift, change, twist with every new word or line,

depending on where the poet takes you

What words, phrases or images stuck with you as you read?

Go back to the start (The Title)

With knowledge of the entire poem, including the end

What does the title mean?  Literal?  Symbolic? Word Play? Allusion?

            What is the title supposed to get you to start thinking about?

            How does the title set the stage or tone or meaning of the poem?

Starting with the title, determine who or what the subject of the poem is.

Who is the narrator of the poem?  Who is speaking?

Do you think it’s the poet’s own personal voice or is the poet writing from another perspective, in the voice of another?

What is the tone of the poem?  What words give you the impression of tone?

Is there a message or a call to action? 

What are you supposed to think or feel by the end of the poem?