How to Read Poetry

Reading poetry isn't hard. Run through this process before you try your way.

1. Read the poem.

2. Read the poem, again.

3. Grab a sheet of paper and a pencil. Read the poem and write down all the words you can't define.

4. Look up the definitions of those words and write them down.

5. Read the poem, when you come across those words, read the definitions.

6. Take a break.

7. Welcome back, now read the poem OUT LOUD. Yes, out loud. From here on down, you need to read OUT LOUD.

8. Is there a theme you can identify? Write down a word or two. If you can't right now, that's OK. Look at this note on discovering theme.

9. Read the title.

10. Now, is there a theme you can identify? Write down a word or two. If you can't right now, that's OK. Look at this note on discovering theme.

11. Who is the speaker / persona / voice?

12. Can you identify the tone? Need some tone words to help you out? Jot down the tone words that fit. Here's a shorter list of tone words from Poetry in Voice.

13. Can you identify an image, or images? Write them down.

14. Can you identify any sensory imagery? Write them down.

15. Identify any similes or metaphors. Write them down.

16. Look at the structure of the poem. Is it divided into sections? Compare the sections.

17. Read out loud. Tap your pencil. Feel the rhythm. See the Youtube videos below.

18. Word choices. Why does the poet choose their words? Do certain words stick out? I don't mean words that stick out because you didn't understand them. See step 4.

19. Rhyme. Can you hear it happen? Where does it happen? At the end of a line? In the middle of a line?

Poetic Forms & Terms - With Examples

Some poetic terms, with examples from Poetry in Voice.

Let's go through the list, and read an example of each. Ask yourself:

• Is the poem we read a clear example of the term?

• If you liked the poem, write down the poets name and the title of the poem. Then:

  • Find and read other poems by the same poet

  • Find and read other poems which use the same term (use the 'See More' link)

Reading Poetry for Meaning, Together

Let's find some poems in the Senior Anthology at Poetry in Voice. I'll follow the steps of How to Read Poetry. You're going to help me understand the poem.

A Glossary of Poetic (Literary) Terms

This document comes from a handout from English 110. I tried to reproduce it as faithfully as I could. It was littered with underlines, which just don't work on the internet. It's older than you are.

Form

The form of a poem is its visual look. It consists of stanzas (the poetic equivalent of paragraphs), lines, and shapes (sometimes, the shape of a poem will resemble the shape of the object or action it describes).

Structure

the division of a poem in to parts which constitute beginning, middle and end.

Types

poems have assumed a number of identifiable types over time. The most common types include the sonnet, the lyric, the narrative, the elegy, the dramatic dialogue, and the dramatic monologue.

Image

in any literary text, an object that can be experienced or perceived by one of the five senses -- taste, touch, smell, sound and especially sight.

ex. The sailboats drifted on the calm seas, hardly touched by the faint spring breezes. (sailboats, seas, and spring are visual images, the breezes here represent an image of touch)

Symbol

in any text, and in everyday life, the word, person place or object that represents more that itself

e.x The $ is a symbol of money; the rose is a symbol of love; the flag is the symbol of a nation.

Sound Devices

patterns of deliberate repetitions in a text are usually evidence of the writer's use of sound effects. These effects are often intended to emphasize meaning or feeling, and most often they play a large part in establishing the tone of the speaker (i.e., the speaker's attitude towards the subject matter or the audience). Readers can expect to find the following sorts of sound effects in texts:

rhyme (identical sounds at the ends of lines)

rhythm (repetitions of numbers of beats in adjacent lines

alliteration (repetition of consonant sounds in lines

assonance (repetition of vowel sounds in lines)

euphony (combinations of pleasant sounds in a group of lines)

cacophony (repetition of harsh and unpleasant sounds in a group of lines)

onomatopoeia (the use of a word that sounds just like the sound it represents)

Metaphor

an unusual and subtle comparison of unlikely objects

e.x. She was a volcano waiting to explode. (volcano is a metaphor for this woman)

Simile

an unusual and direct comparison containing the words "like", "as", or "as if"

ex. She looks like a volcano waiting to explode. (volcano is a simile for this woman)

Personification

the poet's attribution of human qualities to a non-human creature or inanimate object

ex. Time crept in the shadows like a thief in the night. (the poet makes time seem to be a person up to no good)

Paradox

the writer's presentation of a statement which seems illogical and contradictory at first, but which proves true in the context of the entire text

ex. She was cruel in her kindness: she helped her brother, but she refused to tell him that she was proud of him.

Oxymoron

the appearance of two absolutely opposite words side by side as if they belong together

ex. loving hate; freezing heat; silent sound; burning cold.

Irony

the gap between what is said and what is actually meant

ex. In Shakespeare's play Othello, Othello expresses his love for his wife Desdemona even as he is strangling her. (there is irony in his words)

Billy Collins' How to Read a Poem Out Loud

Billy Collins' How to Read a Poem Out Loud taken from Poetry 180

No doubt, most of the readers will be students with little or no experience in reading poetry out loud, especially to such a large group. And we know that a poem will live or die depending on how it is read. What follows, then, are a few pointers about the oral recitation of poetry. The readers, by the way, should not read cold; they should be given their poem a few days in advance so they will have time to practice, maybe in the presence of a teacher. In addition to exposing students to the sounds of contemporary poetry, Poetry 180 can also serve as a way to improve students' abilities to communicate publicly. Here are a few basic tips:

1. Read the poem slowly. Most adolescents speak rapidly, and a nervous reader will tend to do the same in order to get the reading over with. Reading a poem slowly is the best way to ensure that the poem will be read clearly and understood by its listeners. Learning to read a poem slowly will not just make the poem easier to hear; it will underscore the importance in poetry of each and every word. A poem cannot be read too slowly, and a good way for a reader to set an easy pace is to pause for a few seconds between the title and the poem's first line.

2. Read in a normal, relaxed tone of voice. It is not necessary to give any of these poems a dramatic reading as if from a stage. The poems selected are mostly written in a natural, colloquial style and should be read that way. Let the words of the poem do the work. Just speak clearly and slowly.

3. Obviously, poems come in lines, but pausing at the end of every line will create a choppy effect and interrupt the flow of the poem's sense. Readers should pause only where there is punctuation, just as you would when reading prose, only more slowly.

4. Use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words and hard-to-pronounce words. To read with conviction, a reader needs to know at least the dictionary sense of every word. In some cases, a reader might want to write out a word phonetically as a reminder of how it should sound. It should be emphasized that learning to read a poem out loud is a way of coming to a full understanding of that poem, perhaps a better way than writing a paper on the subject.

Poetry Assignment

Find and Read Poems

Choose 10 poems that we have not read as class from Poetry in Voice SENIOR POEM ANTHOLOGY. There are roughly 400 poems for you to explore in that anthology.

Use Poem Roulette or Tags and Moods if you don't want to use the search and sort features of the anthology.

Track your ideas with a Poetry Journal

Create your own collection of favourite poems from the SENIOR POEM ANTHOLOGY. You can arrange the 10 poems as you see fit. They can be listed randomly, by mood, theme, type, year, poet, etc. Whatever you want ... this is your anthology! Remember that you will be asked to explain how you ordered your list.

• For each, include the title and the poet's name. Place your poems in the order you want. Why did you choose this order?

• What font, size, effect and layout did you choose for your list? Explain this at the beginning of your presentation

• Choose three poems from your list, and write 3 journal entries.

  • A journal entry explains:

    1. Why you like the poem.

       • Be specific. Be descriptive.

       • Support your answer with a quote.

    2. What the poem means to you.

       • Make one clear connection to:

         • you

         • the world around you

         • another text

       • Why did you put this poem in this specific spot on your list? Explain how your poems are arranged in your anthology.

    3. Identify and explain at least one connection to a poetic device. Focus on the effectiveness of at least one of the following:

       • Imagery / Sensory Imagery

       • Simile / Metaphor

       • Theme

       • Word Choice

       • Sound / Rhythm / Rhyme / Structure

    4. Identify and analyse the perspective or bias in the poem. Comment on how the poem raises questions about beliefs, values, identity or power.

Your journal entries will be:

• 150 - 200 words long

• standard English spelling and grammar rules

• informal ... you can use personal pronouns like, "I"

• the heading of each journal should follow this format:

  • Poetry Journal #1: Title of Poem by Poet's name

Oral Reading

Choose your favourite poem from your 10 poem anthology. Read the poem to the class. If you don't want to read one of the poems you wrote about in a journal, you must complete an additional journal.

Introduce the poem by telling the audience:

1. introduce yourself

2. state which journal entry is you best.

3. explain the font, size, effect and layout choices you made for your list.

4. what the poem means to you

5. why you chose it

6. the title of your anthology

7. how this poem fits into your anthology

8. the title of the poem

9. the name of the author

10. read the poem

Assignment Layout

Page 1

• MLA header and MLA page number

• Give your anthology an original title

• Anthology list

  • if the poem is one of the three you wrote a journal entry for, indicate which journal number is is.

  • indicate the poem you've chosen to read out loud like so: * as read and introduced by First name Last name

Page 2

• MLA page number

• Journal #1

Page 3

• MLA page number

• Journal #2

Page 4

• MLA page number

• Journal #3

Submit this assignment to Turnitin and Google Classroom