READING AND ANALYZING POETRY

THE ELEMENTS OF POETRY: POINT OF VIEW, SETTING AND THEME

Poetry shares many elements with its sister genres, drama and prose fiction. But poetry is usually different from them in several key ways. In general, it is more concentrated- that is poetry says more in fewer words. Poets achieve this concentration by selecting details more carefully, by relying more heavily on implication (through figurative language, connotation, and sensuous imagery), and by more carefully organizing the form of their poetry (through rhythmic speech patterns and "musical" qualities such as rhyme). Because of the shortness of poetry and because of its greater concentration, it demands a more complete unity than prose fiction: nearly every word, every sound, and image contributes to a single effect.

Some poems—"narrative" poems—are very similar to prose fiction and drama in their handling of characterization, point of view, plot, and setting. Thus many of the same questions that one asks about a short story, novel, or play are relevant to these poems. Most poems, however, do not offer a "story" in the conventional sense. They are usually brief and apparently devoid of "action." Even so, a plot of sorts may be implied, a place and time may be important, a specific point of view may be operating, and characters may be dramatizing the key issues of the poem. In any poem there is always one character" of the utmost importance, even if he or she is the only character. This character is the speaker, the "I" of the poem. Often the speaker is a fictional personage, not at all equivalent to the poet, and may not be speaking to the reader but to another character, as is the case in Browning's "My Last Duchess." The poem might even be a dialogue between two or more people, as in ballads. Thus the poem can, be a little drama or story, in which one or more fictional characters participate. But more typically, one character, the "I," speaks of something that concerns him or her deeply and personally. Such poems are called "lyric" poems because of their subjective, musical, highly emotional, and imaginative qualities. They are songlike utterances by one person, the "I."

In analyzing poetry, your first step should be to come to grips with the "I" of the poem, the speaker. You should answer questions such as these: Who is speaking? (Remember that the speaker is often not the poet.) What characterizes the speaker? To whom is he or she speaking? What is the speaker's tone? What is the speaker's emotional state? Why is he or she speaking? What situation is being described? What are the conflicts or tensions in this situation? How is setting—social situation, physical place, and time—important to the speaker? What ideas is the speaker communicating? Try to answer these questions for each section of the poem. A good exercise is to summarize the meaning of each part of the poem in your own words.

(From: Kelly Griffith. Writing Essays about Literature, p. 100)

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 948