Understanding Poetry

[elitespart]

I'm a senior in high school taking AP English and my question is that does anyone have tips for a beginner on how to read and interpret poems. This is a challenge for me so if anyone could give me some pointers, I'd appreciate it.

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear elitespart,

Here is one tip from me.Always read the poem and just write what you interpret.Then read about the poet and his times and you will always know why he wrote what he wrote.This is needed when you go for period poems.I can give you one good website.Visit www.bartleby.com.

[JBI]

There is an interesting book (specifically for the reasons I will mention further) that acts as a pretty good introduction to poetry.

You can probably find this at your local library, the work is Harold Bloom's The Best Poems of the English Language from Chaucer Through Frost. The book is specifically good for its introduction, which goes in depth to understand what makes a poem (though it doesn't mention anything on the metrics of poetry, and focuses on the meaning and structuring). This anthology is great for providing a nice overview of the major poets of the language, by offering nice introduction and biographical references, most geared to show the importance and influence of each poet.

That to me seems like probably the best place to start any true reading of poetry (though hardly the place to end). Some of my own observations, from reading poetry, and trying to understand it, are as follows:

first, you must read, if you are truly trying to understand the poem, it over a couple of times. Look for reoccurring concepts/references, in addition to all the poetic devices you learn in school: metaphor, allusion, enjambment, etc.
From there you need to decide how it all fits together. You, to understand a poem, but try to understand what the poet is trying to tell you. To do this, you need to look into the context of the poem, and how each word is being used to fuel a bigger feeling. The name of the poem (assuming there is one) should give you a hint most of the time, but really you need to try to piece together some sort of pattern that is going on throughout the poem.

[drgypsy]

The suggestions in the posts above are excellent. In addition, I hope you will read lots of poems in different styles and from different periods. Even if it does not happen at first, I hope you will come across at least one poem that gives you a strong emotional reaction. You may find yourself thinking: "That was the perfect way to express that (feeling, idea, experience, whatever)! It could never be expressed more memorably." When a poem "clicks" with you in that way, you will be hooked!

Happy reading.

[blazeofglory]

Understanding poetry demands repeated readings. I scarcely understand poems at one reading. At times I read the same poem at least twenty times!

[JBI]

Strangely I find the easiest poems to understand are contemporary ones. Metaphysical are probably the most difficult type (the simple pronunciation of Donne's word creates a pun where you wouldn't think one) or Milton's work, which is complex beyond belief (I remember reading a footnote in a book detailing how in the above passage Milton carefully phrased his work to imply that both the world was flat, and the world was round, in order not to take sides).

Poets like Frost are very difficult, yet good poets like Walter Savage Landor are very accessible. I wouldn't begin reading something like Dickinson, but I think it very possible to begin reading something like Sidney.

[ctalerico]

Before a poem is begun the poet typically has an idea or a vision--not necessarily a singular vision nor one fully developed. As the vision is sharpened and refined, the poet develops and writes the poem using the language of poetry--metaphor, simile, allegory, allusion, meter, etc.

The poet's initial vision for the poem is his/her occasion for writing the poem, not to be confused with theme or subject. The occasion is the motivating, driving force behind the poem and becomes the poem's invisible engine, if you will: the poet's purpose for writing the poem.

It is the reader's implied prime directive (whether knowingly or not) to discover the occasion of the poem in order to fully appreciate it.

As blazeofglory aptly observed, understanding and appreciating a poem requires careful and repeated readings. Why? Because, unlike prose, poetry is highly compact and uses imagery in a unique manner.

1. The first reading of a poem should be an introduction, a getting acquainted with the poem--its language and rhythm.

2. In subsequent readings the reader attempts to discover the occasion for the poem for that is the poem's Rosetta stone through which deeper meanings of the work are revealed.

3. While reading one should also note any unfamiliar words or references and look them up because, if left nebulous in the reader's mind, they will act as barriers to the full understanding of the poem. Yet each word or reference the reader understands acts as a clue to the greater appreciation of the poem.

4. With poetry that is not immediately accessible (fully understandable), it helps to approach the work as a kind of mystery that must be solved and you are a sleuth hot on the trail toward discovering the poem's meaning. Once having done so, the reader gains greater appreciation of the poem.

Why might a poem be difficult to immediately understand and require so much effort on the part of a reader? Because the nature and beauty of poetry is it's density: it says so much in so few words. Some readers may not have knowledge of a particular reference or set of references to which the poem alludes. The joy of reading poetry for the reader is his full participation in discovering the poem's mysteries just as the poet discovered them when creating the work. In making such discoveries the reader is participating in the broadening of his or her knowledge.

So reading poetry--at least "difficult" poetry that requires some effort on the reader's part--is often a process of self-education, the poem acting as impetus to that enlightenment.

Another tip: look to the title of the poem for guidance to its occasion and/or meaning. I would give this much more weight than touched upon elsewhere in this thread.

Just as a poet avails himself of all the literary devices at his disposal for ultimately crystallizing and conveying his meaning so, too, must the reader be aware of those devices and understand how they are used within the poem to expand its universal meaning and reveal its truths. 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. In these lines, for instance, taken from "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats it helps knowing why the first five words are in quotes.

What JBI expressed, "try to piece together some sort of pattern that is going on throughout the poem" is precisely the point: discovering the whole pattern from the fabric of the poem is the delightful reward for the time and effort invested.

The more effort a person is willing to bring to any work of art, the greater will be his/her understanding and appreciation of it.

[wessexgirl]

I know this sounds very obvious, but I would read, re-read and re-read the poem, out loud if possible, and break it down, line by line. As someone else said, read as much about the poet you are studying, and their world, and it will all start to slip into place. You can get such joy, and an emotional connection with poetry. Happy reading.

[blazeofglory]

When I was a student I had difficulty in understanding poetry, and moreover understanding poetry in English was still a big challenge to me as it was my second language. Yet I kept reading repeatedly over and over again and the meaning became clear to me in due course.