Analysing an unseen poem
In an exam you may have to write about a poem you have never seen. A clear method helps you understand it quickly and write about it well. All the poems here were written for Calcali.
Key facts
- First read for meaning: who is speaking, what is happening, and what is the poem about? Read it at least twice.
- Then decide on the mood or tone: the feeling the poem creates (sad, tense, joyful, nostalgic) and how it changes.
- Look at language: techniques such as simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration and repetition. Always explain their effect, not just their name.
- Look at form and structure: the stanzas, the rhyme and rhythm, where lines run on (enjambment), and where the poem turns or ends.
- Write in clear paragraphs: make a point, support it with a short quotation, zoom in on a key word, and explain its effect on the reader.
Worked examples
Example 1
Which technique? ⟦its wooden legs worn thin by tide⟧ (about an old pier)
- A pier doesn't have legs: the poet gives it a human body.
- This is personification: the pier seems like a tired old person, so we feel sympathy for it.
Answer: personification
Example 2
What is the mood? ⟦Our boxes stand like silent guards / along the empty hall.⟧ … ⟦Tomorrow, somewhere strange and new, / another wall will wait.⟧
- ⟦silent⟧ and ⟦empty⟧ create a sad, quiet feeling at the start.
- ⟦new⟧ and ⟦will wait⟧ at the end look forward, so the mood is sad but hopeful.
Answer: sad but hopeful
Example 3
Which is better analysis of ⟦My pen is a soldier⟧?
- ⟦This is a metaphor.⟧ only names the technique.
- Good analysis explains the effect: what the image makes the reader think or feel.
Answer: ⟦The metaphor makes the pen seem ready for battle, showing how the student sees the exam as a fight.⟧