Important Stages
As daunting as they may appear, poems are NOT the enemy! Let’s walk through some important stages in analysing a poem.
(a) Subject – i.e. what is the poem about?
(b) Tone – i.e. getting a sense of how the poet feels about his/her subject matter (poet’s attitude)
(c) Mood – i.e. effect created by the poem
(d) Theme – i.e. what is the main idea behind the poem?
(e) Poet’s Purpose – i.e. did he achieve his goal?
(f) Technical Construction – i.e. techniques the poet uses to show the intent, meaning, effect of poem.
Let’s expand on these main headings some more!