How to Read a Poem Making Sense of Poetry

What Is Poetry? Poetry is a type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions and imagination. I sense my mother around me. A color, a sound, a scent Take me on a journey Back through space and time To a warmth, a closeness, A vast ocean of comfort. from “Mater, Matter, Mother” by Theresa Luke Holmberg

How to Read a Poem Step 1: Read the poem silently several times, paying attention to punctuation. Punctuation tells you where one thought ends and another begins and where pauses occur. Focus closely upon the punctuation at the ends of lines. If there is no punctuation at the end of a line, do not pause. If there is punctuation at the end of a line, pause. Commas at the end of a line indicate short pauses.

How to Read a Poem Step 2: If you are confused by a sentence in the poem, find its subject, verb, and complement. Sometimes the verb precedes the subject. Step 3: Notice figures of speech—similes, metaphors, and personification.

How to Read a Poem Step 4: Read the poem aloud, listening to the sounds. Step 5: After you have read the poem, talk about it with a friend or classmate. Discuss any unfamiliar words or words with multiple meanings. Try paraphrasing or restating parts of the poem. Step 6: Re-read the poem a final time.

Let’s Practice A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides; You may have met him — did you not? His notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a comb, A spotted shaft is seen; And then it closes at your feet And opens further on. from “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press and the Trustees of Amherst College.

Let’s Practice A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides; You may have met him—did you not? His notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a comb, A spotted shaft is seen; And then it closes at your feet And opens further on. from “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson At the end of which lines should you continue reading without a pause? "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press and the Trustees of Amherst College.

Let’s Practice Which line does not follow traditional word order? "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press and the Trustees of Amherst College. A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides; You may have met him — did you not? His notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a comb, A spotted shaft is seen; And then it closes at your feet And opens further on. from “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson

A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides; You may have met him — did you not? His notice sudden is. The grass divides as with a comb, A spotted shaft is seen; And then it closes at your feet And opens further on. from “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson Let’s Practice In which line is there a figure of speech? "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" from The Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright © 1951, 1955, 1979 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press and the Trustees of Amherst College.

On Your Own Poised between going on and back, pulled Both ways taut like a tightrope-walker, Fingertips pointing the opposites, Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on, Running a scattering of steps sidewise, How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases, Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird, He’s only flirting, crowd him, crowd him, Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate — now! “The Base Stealer” by Robert Francis "The Base Stealer" from The Orb Weaver by Robert Francis. Copyright © 1960 by Robert Francis. Reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

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