Poetry Explication Skills
1. Read the poem through at least twice.
3. Paraphrase (put into your own words) each line of the poem.
4. Change the order of the words in your head. Sometimes mentally moving phrases to a more understandable order helps you interpret the poem more easily. Often poets arrange words in an unusual syntax (word order) in order to fit a certain metrical pattern (beat) or rhyme scheme.
5. Make a list of important images from the poem.
6. Decide what the mood (emotional atmosphere) of each stanza is by classifying the words. Are there a lot of words that are happy, sad, angry, serious, humorous, etc.? You might make lists of words that have similar tone/mood.
7. Look for turns/shifts/changes in the mood of the poem. Is there a line where the overall mood changes? Describe the change. Which images and words reinforce the change of mood?
8. What, in your opinion, are the themes (messages) of the poem. Write down these themes in sentence form. A poem may have more than one theme.
9. Always start with the words themselves, the literal. When you are discussing the poem, whether in writing or orally, pay close attention to the vocabulary of the poem to substantiate (back up) your interpretation. Consider the words themselves as the evidence for your opinions. Do not speak in too general a way about the poem. Always be specific and exact by quoting from the poem. Too often students find things and interpretations that are not in the poem. When you make a statement about the poem, ask yourself, “Am I sure that the poem is saying this? Where is my proof? Which words give me this interpretation?”
