Can somebody please help me analyze a poem ? I am new to poetry ? :)

[ItalianRacer]

Hi, I am new to the forum and new to poetry as well.

This poem is entitled "The Last Picture in the World," composed by Canadian poet Alfred Purdy.

A hunched grey shape
framed by leaves
with lake water behind
standing on our
little point of land
like a small monk
in a green monastery
meditating

almost sculpture
except that it's alive
brooding immobile permanent
for half an hour
a blue heron
and it occurs to me
that if I were to die at this moment
that picture would accompany me
wherever I am going
for part of the way

Please note: The words "almost sculpture" are supposed to be indented about five spaces, though I cannot do it on the forum. I'm not sure if that makes a difference but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Can anybody please help me with its analysis ? I am supposed to analyze it, though my teacher was rather vague on what exactly I am supposed to come up with.

Thank you all, and I look forward to meeting you all as I become a part of this wonderful forum.

[joelavine]

Rather than give you my analysis point blank (buy you a fish), I'd suggest (try to teach you how to fish) that you (and please note the order is simply a suggestion, there are more than one way to work a poem through - and please note that I am just scratching the surface with these suggestions):

First, identify the initial event of the poem, then

1) Identify with the viewer of the image corresponding to the initial event (what do we know about the viewer, is it a lot, is it very little?)
2) Picture for yourself the image viewed in detail (not just the heron, but the setting)
3) Ask yourself what the overall tone of the poem is? What is your emotional response to the poem? (Remember poems, like all works of literature, can be elegiac, wistful, bruising, provocative, erotic, enflaming, contemplative, and a million other notes - what does this one strike you as being - for me, it's spiritual and plaintive)
4) Then turn to the primary impression the viewer is left with (the occurrence stated at the finish)

Next

1) Think about the choices the poet made:
a) Did the poem use simple and clear language or selective obfuscation
b) Is this a literal poem with a clear inflection or is there a strong sense of subtext
c) Consider the poem's length and meter, read the poem aloud several times
d) Very importantly, focus on the poet's choice of words and phrases; which words and phrases resonate with other ones in the poem, and why (an examples: alive - die; immobile - die; framed - picture; monk, monastery - "wherever I am going" [after death]
e) From your answers to d) above, what clues do you believe you now might have as the poem's themes
f) Why did the poem give us as much or as little he/she did as to the viewer/speaker (was the intent to personalize, or perhaps to generalize experience toward the universal)

Finally ask

1) why did the poet feel the need and or inclination to write this poem
2) what makes the poet feel a significance in an image, if it be one's last, having the power to "accompany" the viewer where he is going after death
3) describe the poet's relationship to the theme - for example; is it a clear one with a professed moral; is it a contemplative one seeking an answer. Are the poet's claim to the theme that of a master making an argument, or a philosopher considering an ambiguity that for him/her is unresolved (for instance). This part is not easy, and there is no definitive answer, but think about the poem in these terms.
4) once you have identified the realm of the poet's inquiry, try to identify the poet's operational assumptions and if the poet takes them for granted, literally, or uses them to express emotion without adopting particular beliefs as governing that realm. Here, I'll be more specific, and give you some of my reading: does this writer accept the afterlife as a given, or is the writer simply indulging in a daydream about death and the soul's aftermath, or something else (perhaps in between) (does the fact that the speaker doesn't know where he/she is going give you a clue; see "wherever I am going")
5) why only "part of the way"? what might, beside the image, accompany the viewer the rest of the way - does the viewer know? why is the viewer, if he/she is, sure it's only "part of the way", etc., etc.,
6) Look at the poem in terms of time, the temporary, the transitory, the half hour of the heron's brooding stay (a limited term, and yet, this is described as permanent; ask yourself why this might be?), the eternity (if it is) of death, how do these compare, is the poet certain or uncertain as to these temporal terms?

In short, don't jump to conclusions, but ask yourself as many questions as you can think of; these questions will enrich the experience of the poem, and perhaps lead to an analysis. Remember also that the analysis doesn't have to be one that "tackles the poem," offers clear conclusions and argues why they are right. A solid analysis of the poem may be reflected more passionately by considering the questions (the poem evokes for you) thoughtfully without a concrete resolution ("the poem means x,y,z....").

I am far from a scholar of poetry but I liked the poem a lot - thanks for sharing it - and hope that my few comments might help you enjoy your assignment.

[ItalianRacer]

Thanks for the help !

I will do my best to use it to help with the assignment, but I fear that I might misuse it and end up mis-analysing the poem. :/

[The Comedian]

Thanks for the help !

I will do my best to use it to help with the assignment, but I fear that I might misuse it and end up mis-analysing the poem. :/

Do your best. This isn't math (thank the Lord), so you're not looking for THE answer, just an intelligent response.

[ennison]

And five indentations might make all the difference. Four might only be part of part of the way. PS Do not take every poem seriously. Even if the poor poet meant it. I suggest you read a few more poems about herons , death (the journey between life n death) and colour. Then come back to this shabby attempt at a poem and see it for what it is.