Analyzing and

8
Interpreting Poems

Poetry scares some people, mainly because they believe that

poems have hidden meanings. A good way to approach poetry is by reading
closely for the literal meaning. In reality, poetry compresses the language
into small sentences or phrases, so it just seems that the meanings are hid-
den. Ask yourself, what is that poet’s view on the subject? If you add a few
of your own thoughts and experiences, you can uncover what has been
left out. Think of it as frozen orange juice. Add water and you have the
entire amount. Also, remember that poets compare objects to other objects
. . . just like the frozen orange-juice metaphor. Think back to Chapter 2,
Analogies, and remember the way you made comparisons there.

INTERPRETATION

Using the skills of active reading to analyze a passage and draw

conclusions that are not explicitly stated.

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As you begin to read the poems in this section, it is important to under-

stand who is speaking in the poem. (The speaker may not be the poet.)
Once you can identify the narrator, you should be able to get an idea of
the narrator’s attitude toward the subject, and this is easily discovered by
the author’s word choice. Through the images that the words make, you
should be able to answer the questions correctly.

POETRY

Most Traditional poetry follows a rhythmic pattern and rhyme

scheme. Note how these two lines rhyme and share the same
rhyme and share the same rhythm or meter:
He who fights and runs away
Lives to fight another day.

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The answers to this section begin page 157.

The following poem is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Consider the title of this
poem as a guide to meaning.

The Eagle
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

329. Given the tone of the poem, and noting especially the last line,
what is the eagle most likely doing in the poem?
a. dying of old age
b. hunting prey
c. learning joyfully to fly
d. keeping watch over a nest of young eagles

330. To which of the following do the underlined words azure world

most likely refer?
a. a forest
b. the sky
c. the cliff
d. nature

331. In the second stanza, first line, to which of the following does the
verb crawls refer?
a. waves
b. sunlight on the water
c. the eagle’s prey
d. the eagle itself

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This poem, by Emily Dickinson, is a sort of riddle. Depending on your life

experiences, the answer may be immediately clear, or it may very well not
be. Look closely for clues in the language.

A Narrow Fellow in the Grass

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—
He likes a Boggy Acre—
A Floor too cool for Corn—
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot—
I more than once at Noon
Have passed, I thought, a Whip-lash
Unbraiding in the Sun—
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone—

Several of Nature’s People

I know, and they know me—
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality—
But never met this Fellow,
Attended, or alone—
Without a tighter breathing
And zero at the bone—

332. Who or what is the Fellow in this poem?

a. a whip-lash
b. a snake
c. a gust of wind
d. a boy

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333. The phrase Without a tighter breathing / And zero at the bone most
nearly indicates
a. fright.
b. cold.
c. grief.
d. awe.

334. The phrase Nature’s People means

a. nature-lovers.
b. children.
c. animals.
d. neighbors.

335. The speaker of this poem is most likely

a. an adult woman.
b. an adult man.
c. Emily Dickinson, the poet.
d. a young boy.

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It’s true that poems often have two levels—one literal, one figurative.
The next poem, also by Emily Dickinson, is full of images from nature.
In exploring the second level of meaning, consider the speaker’s attitude,
revealed especially through surprising and jarring word choices.

Apparently with No Surprise

Apparently with no surprise
To any happy flower,
The frost beheads it at its play
In accidental power.

The blond assassin passes on,

The sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another day
For an approving God.

336. Which of the following most nearly describes the author’s attitude
toward nature as expressed in this poem?
a. delight
b. dismay
c. indifference
d. reverence

337. The poem implies that the attitude of the flowers toward the frost
is one of
a. fear.
b. horror.
c. acceptance.
d. reverence.

338. The tone of the poem implies that the speaker probably regards
God as
a. benevolent.
b. just.
c. cruel.
d. angry.

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Poetry often uses words in unexpected ways. This forces the reader to con-
sider the deeper meanings of words, while also reflecting on the idea that
the poet hopes to get across. Consider both the words and the ideas in this
poem by Sir Walter Scott.

Patriotism
Breathes there the man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
“This is my own, my native land!”
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand?
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

339. What is the most likely meaning of the underlined word pelf, as
used in this poem?
a. power
b. wealth
c. stealth
d. health

340. What is the poet’s main idea in this poem?

a. Those who become rich must hate their country.
b. Traveling abroad helps a person appreciate home.
c. Those who do not love their country will not be honored.
d. Patriotism is the last refuge for scoundrels.

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341. What does the poem mean that such people will be “doubly dying”
(three lines from the end)?
a. They will not die alone.
b. They will die physically and also be forgotten.
c. Their death will be painful.
d. They will die, then rise again.

342. What does the underlined word concentred most likely mean?
a. swirling or curved
b. arrogant, proud
c. focused on, concerned with
d. looking upward

343. One can infer from this poem that Sir Walter Scott
a. loved his homeland.
b. was from Great Britain.
c. hated war.
d. spoke many languages.

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This next poem is by William Shakespeare.

The Seven Ages of Man

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling . . . in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face . . . And then the lover,
Sighing like a furnace . . . Then a soldier
Full of strange oaths . . . Jealous of honor,
Sudden and quick in quarrel . . . And then the
justice . . .
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon.
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side.
. . . and his big manly voice, Turning again toward
Childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound.
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

344. What attitude does the speaker reveal by using the word merely in
the second line?
a. sorrow
b. anger
c. amusement
d. indifference

345. What characterizes the period of life represented by the soldier?

a. brash behavior
b. his sense of honor
c. his dedication to duty
d. his fear of cowardice

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346. What is the main idea of this poem?

a. Life is a misery that never gets any better at any time.
b. Life is what each of us makes of it during our journey down the
river of eternity.
c. Life is a play and it follows a specific script, none of which
should cause anguish or sorrow.
d. Life is a comedy, and we are all buffoons in pantaloons no mat-
ter what we do.

347. What is the theme of the poem?

a. Death is to be feared.
b. Life is a circle that brings us back to the beginning.
c. The male of the species is the only true measure of the stages of
life.
d. The stages of life are unrelated and can be altered by each indi-
vidual’s free will.

348. The poet uses the words merely (line 2) and mere (line 20)
a. to soften the effect of the strong images he presents to us in
those lines.
b. to tie together his theme of the cycle of life.
c. convey his tone to the reader.
d. all of the above.

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