You might be wondering,

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You might be wondering,
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How am I supposed to talk about the unsayable?
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And the truth is . . .
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there really is no one way to go about it.
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However,
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this is the process I follow
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(maybe take some notes here)
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First, know this
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Most poems are grounded in the specific, or the
concrete,
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but they move toward the universal, or the
abstract.
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For example,
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Emily Dickinson heard a fly buzz before she died,
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and Robert Frost stopped by a woods on a snowy
evening,
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but those poems are not only about flies and
woods
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they are about faith,
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and they are about mortality.
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So, heres a system you can use
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(1) Read the poem once.
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(2) Read the poem again.
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Repeated readings will tire out the scared voice
in your head that keeps screaming what does it
mean!!?
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(3)Observe the poem. Decide what you think the
poem is about on a literal level.
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(4) Then, decide what the poems tone is toward
that subject.
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That is, is it elegiac, ominous, hopeful,
resigned, ironic, etc.
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And look for shifts in tone toward the subject.
Most poems have them.
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For example,
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They may start out amusing,
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and end up morose.
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Or start out despairing,
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and end up transcendent.
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(5) Then, use your instincts, your imagination--
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to give a general name to the poems thematic
subject.
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Like, for example, the pain of love, the brevity
of life, or the redemptive power of nature.
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(6) Next, talk about how the poems form sets the
tone and affects the theme.
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look at all the tools the poet has at his
disposal line length, line breaks, pace,
imagery, metaphor, connotation, allusion, irony,
etc.
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One great trick is to look for deviations in form
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That is, a change in meter or an unusual line
break can emphasize a word that affects the
poems ideas.
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Thats pretty much it.
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But . . .
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please be sure
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to notice
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Weve said little about summarising what a poem
means.
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We should resist trying to summarize a poems
meaninglike it has a single, secret message to
the world.
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Try to think about reading a poem like listening
to your favorite song.
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What is are some of your favorite songs?Think
about them now.
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When you hear them, do you think about what they
mean?
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Do you figure them out and then never come
back to them?
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No, you listen to them again and again,
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and you dont know why.
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People who tune into poetry treat it the same way
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they enjoy them like songsthey come back to
poems that feel different or original . . .
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. . . they come back to poems that seem to
express something unsayable about life.
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So when we talk about poetry, dont worry.
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Dont stress about nailing down their exact
meaning.
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Were simply listening to music that other people
wrote
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and that we get to sing when we say it out loud.
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Lets read some now and practice not worrying
about what it means.