Unseen Poetry Flashcards
Things to Look out for
Voice Repetition Contrasts Beginnings and Endings Punctuation and line breaks The title
Higher bands
Tone or mood
Sound
Form
is the way the poet has arranged it. This is obvious in the case of a sonnet or another traditional verse form but it can be difficult to describe poems written in free form or without a pattern. For example, if the poem is written in a way which reflects conversation or colloquial speech, it may be relevant to note that ‘the free form of the poem reflects …etc.’
Structure
It might be seen as the skeleton that lies beneath the outward form of the poem. It can reflect the meaning of the poem more easily than the form. For example, in Keats’ poem ‘To Autumn’, the form is a clear three-stanza pattern with a regular rhyme and rhythm. The structure reflects the changing nature of autumn as it moves from warm harvest time through to chillier signs of coming winter.
Voice / persona
Who is the ‘speaker’ in the poem? Is it the poet or has she/he taken on a persona (i.e. speaking in the voice of a character?) Who is being spoken to? Is it a general audience or a particular person?
Repetition
Repeated words, phrases or sounds - they will be significant
Contrasts
Slow/fast, hot/cold, light/dark, happy/sad, old/new, old/young and so on
Beginnings and endings
Especially endings, as this is where a poet may sum up or contradict the previous lines
Punctuation and line breaks
Usually a poem will be punctuated in the same way as prose but because of the line breaks, it is less noticeable. Look out for very short and very long sentences or a lack of sentences. Where a line breaks may or may not be significant; just be aware of them and anything that stands out, such as a single word or two on a line.
The title
It may be obvious as in ‘Remember’ or it may be an important guide to the poem, as in ‘Fish oil, exercise and no wild parties’.
