Reading Poem
How to Read a Poem Like a Pro
by jason philip, jesse surya
Most people usually read poetry quickly because they are nervous or lazy and finally don’t know the original meaning or the intention of the poet when writing the poem. The poet wants us to feel what he or she feels when writing the poem. Below are some ways to read a poem correctly.
- Read the poem slowly
Nervous readers will tend to speak rapidly in order to get the reading over quickly. The best way to read a poem is by reading it slowly (but not too slow). It’s the best way to ensure that the poem is read clearly and understood by the listeners. It will underscore the importance of each and every word in the poetry. An easy way for the reader to set an easy pace is by pausing for a few seconds between the title and the first line of the poem.
- Use pauses
Pausing at every ends of each line will create a choppy effect and interrupt the flow of the poem’s sense. Readers should pause only where there is punctuation. It’s similar like reading prose, only more slowly.
- Understand the meanings of each of every word
Use a dictionary to find the meanings of unfamiliar words. Practice to pronounce the hard-to-pronounce words.to read with confidence and conviction, reader needs to know a least the dictionary sense of every word. To help the reader remember of how words sound, they can write a reminder such as marks on their poetry paper. To show that you have fully understood the poem, readers should read it with a loud voice and and with confidence.
So the point is we have to read poetry in the right way. because if we don't read poetry in the right way, we can miss the meaning that the writer wants us to know. because some sentences need time to understand it.
Example:
Awakening in New York
By Maya Angelou
Curtains forcing their will
against the wind,
children sleep,
exchanging dreams with
Seraphim. The city
drags itself awake on
subway straps;
and I, an alarm, awake as a
rumor of war
lie stretching into dawn
unasked and unheeded
Awakening in New York is a poem that was written by Maya Angelou. In this poem, Maya Angelou uses creative words to describe feelings of the poem. In this poem, the author uses metaphors, personification, and hyperbole to express the feeling of loneliness, emptiness, and uselessness. The author also used line arrangements to create pauses and a good rhythm, to emphasize the meanings and feelings of each word.So, before we read it, we must understand what the words meant and why it’s used.
Let’s start from the beginning of the poem. The first two lines, it says:
Curtains forcing their will
Against the wind
Write a mark before the word Curtains to remind you to pause for couple of seconds. Now, we start to analyze the meaning. We could imagine, curtains blown by the wind, thudding against the wall. The wind represents the turbulence the narrator feels from within. This creates the feeling of inner conflict throughout the poem.
This feeling is then described again in this lines:
I, an alarm, awake as a
rumor of war
The pause made by the author in this part, is to emphasize “I” to the word “alarm” and “rumor of war”. An alarm is a peace of technology, which is use for daily routines and doesn’t have any feelings (it’s obvious, because an alarm is dead object). This express the feeling of the narrator which is empty. By connecting the “rumor of war” with the alarm, we could interpret that the narrator (or the “I”) feels that way because of past conflict in life that the narrator has experienced. So, it shows that the person now is a product of the past difficult times.
By combining “children sleep,” with “exchanging dreams with Seraphim”:
children sleep,
exchanging dreams with Seraphim.
An expression is revealed. We could imagine of children dreaming about Seraphim. Seraphim are fairies, which have been described in the Old Testament. By combining children dreaming of Seraphim with the crashing curtains and the alarm, a feeling is expressed, which is the desire of the narrator to return to the innocence that is often connected with being a child.
The last two lines represents the feeling of the narrator from the whole poem:
lie stretching into dawn,
unasked and unheeded.
The author put a pause between the two last two lines to emphasize the meanings. So, by connecting the title with “lie stretching into dawn,”, we could feel the feelings of neglect and the uselessness of the narrator. Because, we all know that New York, one of a city in US, should be an exciting place to be. While the narrator was alone and unrecognized.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is written by Robert Frost. It has four stanzas, all quatrains of iambic tetrameter; each line has four beats, stressed syllables, maintaining a regular rhythm within the poem. In this poem, the author uses personification and alliteration to make the poem more interesting, and also makes people think that they understand the meaning of the poem but actually they are wrong. So to make it more clear, let's analyze the poem.
Line 1 - 4
There is slightly mysterious atmosphere created in second, third and fourth lines, all suggesting that the owner of the woods lives elsewhere, is separate and won't see 'trespasser' near his woods.
Line 5 -8
The second stanza concentrates on the horse's reaction to the rider stopping. Queer is a word that means odd or strange, and the implication is that this person doesn't ordinarily stop to admire the view. and darkest means deep into the night.
Line 9 - 12
The horse shakes the bells on the harness, reminding the rider that this whole stopping by the woods business is little weird because this is not what they normally do. so the horse is worried because its late and dark.
Line 13 - 16
he fell in love with the woods and tempted to stay but he has lot of obligations to keep. the last 2 repeated lines mean. It will be a long time before he leaves and continue his life
My message
So the point is we have to read poetry in the right way. because if we don't read poetry in the right way, we can miss the meaning that the writer wants us to know. because some sentences need time to understand it.
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