CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Study

History of poetry

Poetry as an art form predates literacy. In preliterate societies, poetry was frequently

employed as a means of recording oral history, storytelling (epic poetry), genealogy,

law and other forms of expression or knowledge that modern societies might expect

to be handled in prose. The Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic which includes poetry, was

probably written in the 3rd century BCE in a language described by William Jones as

"more perfect than Latin, more copious than Greek and more exquisitely refined than

either." Poetry is also often closely identified with liturgy in these societies, as the

formal nature of poetry makes it easier to remember priestly incantations or

prophecies. The greater part of the world's sacred scriptures are made up of poetry

rather than prose.

The use of verse to transmit cultural information continues today. Many English

speaking–Americans know that "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue". An

alphabet song teaches the names and order of the letters of the alphabet; another

jingle states the lengths and names of the months in the Gregorian calendar.

Preliterate societies, lacking the means to write down important cultural information,

use similar methods to preserve it.

Some writers believe that poetry has its origins in song. Most of the characteristics

that distinguish it from other forms of utterance—rhythm, rhyme, compression,

intensity of feeling, the use of refrains—appear to have come about from efforts to fit

words to musical forms. However, in the European tradition the earliest surviving

poems, the Homeric and Hesiodic epics, identify themselves as poems to be recited or

chanted to a musical accompaniment rather than as pure song. Another interpretation,

1

developed from 20th-century studies of living Montenegran epic reciters by Milman

Parry and others, is that rhythm, refrains, and kennings are essentially paratactic

devices that enable the reciter to reconstruct the poem from memory.

In preliterate societies, all these forms of poetry were composed for, and sometimes

during, performance. As such, there was a certain degree of fluidity to the exact

wording of poems, given this could change from one performance or performer to

another. The introduction of writing tended to fix the content of a poem to the version

that happened to be written down and survive. Written composition also meant that

poets began to compose not for an audience that was sitting in front of them but for

an absent reader. Later, the invention of printing tended to accelerate these trends.

Poets were now writing more for the eye than for the ear.

The development of literacy gave rise to more personal, shorter poems intended to be

sung. These are called lyrics, which derives from the Greek lura or lyre, the

instrument that was used to accompany the performance of Greek lyrics from about

the seventh century BCE onward. The Greek's practice of singing hymns in large

choruses gave rise in the sixth century BCE to dramatic verse, and to the practice of

writing poetic plays for performance in their theatres.

In more recent times, the introduction of electronic media and the rise of the poetry

reading have led to a resurgence of performance poetry and have resulted in a

situation where poetry for the eye and poetry for the ear coexist, sometimes in the

same poem. The late 20th-century rise of the singer-songwriter and Rap culture and

the increase in popularity of Slam poetry have led to a renewed debate as to the

nature of poetry that can be crudely characterised as a split between the academic and

popular views. As of 2005, this debate is ongoing with no immediate prospect of a

resolution.

2

Love poems proliferate now, in weblogs and personal pages, as a new way of

expression and liberty of hearts, "I have won many female relations with this valid

resource", has said a contemporaneus writer called Federic P. Sabeloteur.

2. Identification of the Problem

Related to the background of the study, there are some problems that may arise. The

writer identifies the problems as follows :

How to read a poem?

3

CHAPTER II

CONTENT

A.1.How To Read A Poem

Reading poetry well is part attitude and part technique. Curiosity is a useful

attitude, especially when it’s free of preconceived ideas about what poetry is or

should be. Effective technique directs your curiosity into asking questions, drawing

you into a conversation with the poem. - See more at:

How to Read a Poem

Poems can be read many ways. The following steps describe one approach. Of

course not all poems require close study and all should be read first for pleasure.

• Look at the poem’s tittle: What might this poem be about?

•Read the poem straight through

without stopping to analyze it (aloud, if pos-

sible). This will help you get a sense of how it sounds, how it works, what it

might be about.

•Start with what you know

If the poem is difficult, distinguish between what you do and do not understand. If

permissible, underline the parts you do not immediately understand.

•Check for understanding

Write a quick “first-impression” of the poem by answering the questions, “What do

you notice about this poem so far?” and

“What is this poem about?”

•Look for patterns

Watch for repeated, interesting, or even unfamiliar use of language, imagery, sound,

color, or arrangement. Ask, “What is the poet trying to show through this pattern?”

•Look for changes

in tone, focus, narrator, structure, voice, patterns. Ask: “What has changed and what

does the change mean?”

•Identify the narator

4

.Ask: Who is speaking in the poem? What do you know

about them?

•Check for new understanding

Re-read the poem (aloud, if you can) from start to finish, underlining (again) those

portions you do not yet understand. Explain the poem to yourself or someone else.

•Find the crucial moments

.The pivotal moment might be as small as the word Butor yet Such words often act

like hinges within a poem to swing the poemin a whole new direction. Also pay

attention to breaks between stanzas or between lines.

•Consider for mand function

Now is a good time to look at some of the poet’s more critical choices. Did the poet

use a specific form, such as the sonnet? How did this particular form---e.g., a

sonnet---allow them to express their ideas? Did the poet use other specific poetic

devices which you should learn so you can better understand the poem? Examples

might include: enjambment, assonance, alliteration, symbols, metaphors, or allusions.

Other examples might include unusual use of capitalization, punctuation (or lack of

any), or typography. Ask. “How is the poet using punctuation in the poem?”

•Check for improved understanding

. Read the poem through again, aloud if possible. Return to the title and ask yourself

what the poem is about and how the poem relates to the title.

1. Understand the usage of lines, stanzas (basically paragraphs for poems),

and punctuation. Poetry is not merely fancy words that rhyme. Think on how

you might say a sentence in many different ways, depending on what you

want to imply to the person you are speaking to.

2. Understand that poets use of words is more restricted than the casual

writer. A poet will work within established rhyme and meter to use words in

surprising and unexpected ways... ways that will bring enjoyment to you, the

reader.

5

3. Know that just because a line might end, doesn't mean that the sentence

did, and that you should pause. The pause you take for breath comes at the

punctuation, regardless of where it occurs in the line. Take, for example, the

first paragraph of the poem "Cenone" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

There lies a vale in Ida, lovelier

Than all the valleys of Ionian hills.

The swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen,

Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine,

And loiters, slowly drawn. On either hand

The lawns and meadow-hedges midway down

Hang rich in flowers, and far below them roars

The long brook fallen thro' the clov'n ravine

In cataract after cataract to the sea.

Behind the valley topmost Gargarus

Stands up and takes the morning: but in front

The gorges, opening wide apart, reveal

Troas and Ilion's column'd citadel,

The crown of Troas.

4. Look at the sentences. You can see that sometimes a line ends with a

comma, and sometimes it doesn't. If you read it like this: "There lies a vale in

Ida, lovelier (pause, pause) Than all the valleys of Ionian hills. (pause, pause)"

. You might be a little puzzled as to the poet would write a poem that doesn't

flow.

5. Look again how you read it.This time, you probably paused at 'Ida,' and

made 'lovelier' flow together with 'than' without pause. Notice that the

emphasis was still placed on 'Ida,' but the word 'lovelier' and 'all' had a

stronger feeling to it- it was said with a greater accent, giving it an arrested

6

and smitten sound. This poem was written rather like a paragraph in a story,

or a monologue in a play. Notice how different it sounds when read like a

story and not a ballad!

6. Go back and read the poem with the correct pauses, keeping in mind the

feeling of reading it like a paragraph. Note: This takes practice! You might

have to read it aloud several times before getting it right. When you are

finished, did you see that you were actually able to follow along with the story

being relayed? Oftentimes when reading a poem like a ballad (with breaks at

the end of each line) you can get caught up in maintaining the rhythm, and

find it difficult to concentrate on the actual poem.

7. Don't be afraid to look up the words you don't know. This should be

obvious, but oftentimes you can simply skip over a word, and chalk up its

meaning to "context clues" or "implied meaning" like they taught in 2nd

grade. Look up the words you don't know, and even the words you think you

know but are maybe a little unsure on. You may be surprised as to how the

poem changes colors in your head.

How to Read a Poem is an unprecedented exploration of poetry and feeling. In

language at once acute and emotional, distinguished poet and critic Edward

Hirsch describes why poetry matters and how we can open up our imaginations so

that its message can make a difference. In a marvelous reading of verse from

around the world, including work by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace

Stevens, and Sylvia Plath, among many others, Hirsch discovers the true meaning

of their words and ideas and brings their sublime message home into our hearts. A

masterful work by a master poet, this brilliant summation of poetry and human

nature will speak to all readers who long to place poetry in their lives.

2.How to read a poem

7

1. Remember That a Poem Is a Communication

Just because it’s called “poetry,” a poem is not necessarily more difficult to

read than a story or an essay or a newspaper article—in fact, some poems are

easier to read than just about anything else. There’s a reason we start teaching

kids to read with nursery rhymes and simple stories told in rhyme. A poem is

fundamentally a communication, perhaps not as straightforward as a

command or an unembellished story, but its purpose is to connect poet and

reader/listener and share an idea or a feeling or an experience across that

connection.

2. Keep an Open Mind for First Impressions

When you first approach a new poem, just read it. Don’t feel you must “crack

the code” the first time through. One of the great things about poems is the

way they open up in repeated readings, revealing deeper understandings and

richer echoes each time you pass through again. But you can only experience

one first-time reading, and if you empty your mind of preconceptions before

you start, you give the poem leave to work its particular magic and to surprise

you. Read the whole poem through just to see what happens, without trying to

make any judgments about it.

3. Reread the Poem Right Away

While the first reading is fresh in your mind, reread the poem. This time

around you can ask some questions that will help you formulate your

understanding of the poem: Is it telling a story? Is it making an argument?

Who is the speaker? Who is the audience? Is there one particular image or

metaphor that stands out? Are there memorable repetitions, or rhymes, or

rhythms? Does the poem have turning points—a moment of climactic change

in the trajectory of events if it’s a narrative poem, or a crucial change in mood

or attitude, or a move from one speaker to another?

8

4. Read the Poem Aloud

Poetry has its roots in human speech—the oral tradition of poems goes back

to the dawn of human culture, well before the invention of writing or printing.

And many poems create their effects in the interplay of sound and sense, so

that unless you read the poem out loud, you will miss most of the poetry. You

read the poem aloud to hear the individual words, the vowel and consonant

sounds, the rhymes and rhythms and speed changes, the slight pauses where

your breaths or the line breaks fall.

5. Think About the Poem’s Form and Language

Is the poem shaped in a particular poetic form? What does it look like on the

page? Does it use a special vocabulary, or a particular kind of language—

academic, vernacular, dialect, slang, etc.?

6. Memorize the Poem

You might be tempted to paraphrase the poem, to write a summary of what

it’s “about”—but a poem is much more than its “meaning” and such an

explanation diminishes it. You’re better off memorizing the poem, or at least a

favorite part of it. The process of memorizing lines of poetry shows you a

great deal about how they work, and owning a poem in your memory makes it

available for the repeated experiences that open up its inner riches.

Reading poetry can be very frustrating if you don't know what it means. So

many poems are perplexing, paradoxical, and just plain hard to understand. And yet it

is often the poems that are the most difficult to crack open that can offer us the richest

reading experiences — if we know how to read them and what to expect from them.

With this activity, you can offer your students reading strategies that will allow them

to enjoy sophisticated and subtle writing of all kinds.

9

Begin by explaining to your students that poems don't have answers. Instead, they

have possibilities. They point toward feelings, capture contradictions, awaken our

understandings. Sometimes they leave us with questions and no answers at all. One

day we notice something new about a poem, another day something else. The good

news is you can't get a poem right or wrong. A good poem has many, many possible

meanings. 

Offer your students the following strategies for reading a poem.

A poem with rich layers of possible meanings that students might enjoy talking about

is Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

 

Tell them first that they shouldn't try to explain the poem or figure out its

message or "point." They should begin by just noticing the poem:

I notice that the poet repeats the last line of the poem. I notice he only

"thinks" he knows whose woods these are; he's not certain.

They should ask questions of the poem:

Why does he repeat the last line? Why is he so tired?

They should let the poem remind them of things in their own lives:

This reminds me of when I am so tired at the end of the day and the bus ride

seems to be taking forever and I just want to go home.

Remind students that they are under no obligation to "understand" the poem.

They just have to be able to notice things, ask questions, and make

10

connections.

 

Have students read and respond to the poem on their own and then talk about

it as a class. Be careful that they don't try to arrive at a single interpretation of

the poem but explore all the possible meanings it might have.

 

When students feel that they don't have to understand everything about a

poem right away, you may notice them reading more and more difficult

pieces! Encourage them to read and respond to all kinds of poems in their

journals.

First, forget everything you have learned, that poetry is difficult, that it

cannot be appreciated by the likes of you, with your high school equivalency

diploma, your steel-tipped boots, or your white-collar misunderstandings. Do

not assume meanings hidden from you: the best poems mean what they say

and say it. To read poetry requires only courage enough to leap from the edge

and trust. Treat a poem like dirt, humus rich and heavy from the garden. Later

it will become the fat tomatoes and golden squash piled high upon your

kitchen table. Poetry demands surrender, language saying what is true, doing

holy things to the ordinary. Read just one poem a day. Someday a book of

poems may open in your hands like a daffodil offering its cup to the sun.

When you can name five poets without including Bob Dylan, when you

exceed your quota and don't even notice, close this manual. - See more at:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20592#sthash.iEuLLdNg.dpuf

3.How to Read a Poem

Step I

The first time you start to read a poem you must relax and read it once through

without concentrating on its meaning. This first reading should be very much the way

11

you would size up someone whom you are meeting for the first time. You will just

get a first impression. You will observe this individual and listen to his or her voice,

and you might enjoy just looking at or noticing his or her shape or movement. You

may form some ideas about this person, but you should not think you really know or

understand what he or she is all about. This metaphor or analogy is similar to reading

a poem for the first time. You may enjoy the sound, rhythms, or description of the

words, and you might form some general impressions about the poem, but you will

want to learn more about it after each reading.

Step 2

On your second or third reading, you should concentrate a bit more closely on the

general meaning or meanings in the poem. It is still too early to think about each

specific line or word; stop, however, to think about a particular line that strikes you. It

may be a certain phrase, or a word that is unfamiliar to you. You might ask a

classmate in your group about this phrase, or look up the word in a dictionary. You

will by now want to compare your feelings about the poem after reading it the second

or third time with how you felt about it when you encountered it for the first time.

Are your feelings the same? Are they similar? What is different and why?

Step 3

Any additional readings of the poem should be used to think more specifically about

the words, phrases, or images you have read. It is now time to think more specifically

about what the poem means. Once again, use the example given before about meeting

someone. After you have seen this person on different occasions, do you still have the

same first impressions? Or is this individual somewhat different now that you have

gotten to know more personal details about his or her experiences, values, or beliefs?

Step 4

Poems usually are written to describe something that the poet sees differently, or is

12

eager to convey uniquely. The poet may want to paint a picture or image with words

for the reader, or to express a point of view so that the reader will think about it from

a different perspective or meaning. These are some of the possibilities to keep in

mind as you search for a clearer understanding of the poem.

Step 5

The more you become familiar with the poem, the better you should understand it.

One helpful approach to understanding it is to try to summarize, or to put into your

own words, the different interpretations you have about individual lines or stanzas in

the poem. Compare your views with those of others in your group, and listen to how

other students form opinions about the poem. Remember, however, that there is

generally no exact or right meaning for a poem. Poets will often confess that they are

not exactly sure what they meant when they wrote certain lines or phrases; they have

even been heard to say on occasion that sometimes words seem to "drop from

heaven" and land on the page. That is what awakening the imagination is all about. If

you are lucky, and if you practice enough, magical things may happen when you

write and you may be able to produce a beautiful poem or other work of art yourself.

Step 1) Read the poem without worrying about meanin

g. Don’t even worry about what’s

happening in the poem. Take in the words. Do you no

tice any words that seem interesting, odd,

or especially evocative? Circle them. Make a note a

bout why this word or these words seem to

jump out at you.

Step 2) Read it again. Underline any words that you

don’t understand or that you don’t know.

Break out the dictionary—or oed.com—and look it up.

Try to figure out a few different

13

connotations for the meanings of the words.

Step 3) Read it again. This time, look for what hap

pens in the poem. Write a summary of the

poem, and be completely sure that you understand th

e poem. Is there a story being told? Is it a

narrative poem? Or, is the poem describing, in part

icular detail, something else? Is it a lyric

poem?

Step 4) Read it again (notice a pattern here?). Thi

s time, read the poem aloud. Pay attention to

the possible rhythms of the poem. Read it to someon

e, or record yourself reading it aloud. Try

reading at different speeds. Try reading with diffe

rent inflections and annunciations. Slow down.

Speed up. Read to the punctuation. Read to the line

breaks. Try to establish what you think is the

“right” way to read it aloud. There isn’t necessari

ly a “right” way, but there is the way you think

is best.

Step 5) Read the poem again. Examine the form this

time. Are there patterns that you notice?

What do you make of the line breaks? Is there any k

ind of rhyme scheme? End rhyme? Internal

rhyme? Slant rhyme? What do you make of the stanza

breaks? What about the punctuation of the

poem? Where do sentences begin and end in the poem?

What does this do to the poem? Is there

anything about the shape of the poem that seems imp

ortant?

14

Step 6) Start writing about what you’ve read. Do yo

u “like” the poem? Does it speak to you?

Does it defamiliarize you? How so? What works in th

e poem? What does not work? Why do you

think someone wrote this? Why do think people would

want to read this poem? How would you

rewrite this poem? At this point, you’ve enough wor

k toward appreciating the poem to have

some opinion of the poem.

Step 7) Now, you’re ready for analysis. Start playi

ng the text and context game. Ask some

driving questions. Ask some more driving questions.

Answer those questions. Examine the

meanings of the poem.

B.Example of poetry

Eyes I See the Sadness

In Your Eyes I See The Sadness

Wishing To Wipe Away Your Tears

Heartache Etched Within Your Soul

Leaving You With All Of Your Fears

My Gaze Burning Desperately

Trying To See Within

I Struggle To Embrace Your Broken Heart

Release The Compassion That Struggles To Be Free Again

15

Reaching Out To Hold You

Close To My Heart You Do Lay

I Will Always Be Here To Catch You

Never Allowing You To Wither Away

I See Within Your Crying Eyes

So Desperate To Belong

Envious Of The Future

As The Past Hinders You From Which You Long

* * * *

By Williams

The Reason We Cried

Someday, We’ll Forget

The Hurt ,

The Reason We Cried

And

Who Caused Us Pain

We’ll Finally Realize That

The Secret Of Being Free

Is Not Revenge

But

Letting Things Unfold In

Their Own Way n Own Time

After All What Matters Is Not

The First

16

But

The Last Chapter Of Our Life

Which Shows How Well We

Ran The Race

So

SMILE, LAUGH, FORGIVE

BELIEVE n LOVE All Over

Again . .

By George

17

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

How to Read a Poem is an unprecedented exploration of poetry and feeling. In

language at once acute and emotional, distinguished poet and critic Edward

Hirsch describes why poetry matters and how we can open up our imaginations so

that its message can make a difference. In a marvelous reading of verse from

around the world, including work by Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, Wallace

Stevens, and Sylvia Plath, among many others, Hirsch discovers the true meaning

of their words and ideas and brings their sublime message home into our hearts. A

masterful work by a master poet, this brilliant summation of poetry and human

nature will speak to all readers who long to place poetry in their lives.

18

REFERENCE

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19882#sthash.YyE4JUqk.dpuf

http://www.highlands.edu/jebishop/Howtoreadapoem.pdf

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/poetry/printable/5395.html#ixzz2Ni304mtC

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/how-read-poem

19