How to Write a Poetry Essay

A poetry essay evaluates a poem. It analyzes the words, sounds, feelings and topics that the poet uses in
the poem. A poetry essay should include analysis of the topic, message, rhythm and word choice. It
should have both an introduction and a conclusion.

Step 1

Introduce your poem with an introductory paragraph. Write the title of the poem and its author. Give a
brief summary of the poem’s contents. A brief summary on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven," for example,
would state that the speaker of the poem is longing for his lost love and becomes beguiled by a raven
that speaks only one word, "nevermore."

Step 2

Write about the poetic language and imagery. Does the poet use precise and vivid vocabulary to create
detailed images? What literary devices are used to enhance meanings? Answer these questions by
explaining and analyzing specific examples from the poem. Tell how the poet creates those images. A
good example of this would be the poetry essay found at Bookstove.com. The poetry essay analyzes
Poe's use of simile and metaphor in "The Raven."

Step 3

Write about sound and sense. Does the poet use rhythm and meter to create meaningful sounds in the
poem? Which word sounds does the poet use to create pictures? Does the poet use vocabulary that
appeals to the five senses? Answer these questions by explaining in your poetry essay how the poet’s
choice of words creates meaningful sound. For example, a poetry essay on Poe's "Raven" would show
how the ABCBBB rhyme scheme helps to create a deeper sense of melancholy.

Step 4

Write about emotion and feeling. Is the poet creating a feeling or mood? Does the poem evoke an
emotional response? Answer these questions in your poetry essay by explaining what kind of response
the poet is trying to evoke in his audience. A poetry essay on "The Raven" would describe how the use
of melancholy word choices and repetition, coupled with the creepy raven and mourning for the lost
Lenore, create a deep sense of sadness and despair for the reader.

Step 5

Write a conclusion to your poetry essay. Explain the author’s intent with the poem and whether or not
he or she achieved that goal. Support your opinion with details from the poem.

Examples of poem commentary essay

Commentary on Poem “Road to Lacovia”

I’ve read this poem a few times now, trying to make something out of it. The woman
was a hard worker, not only because she must, but the land she wants to work on made it
worthwhile. In the first verse of the poem, the writer explains how the road to Lacovia looks like
and described a figure of a slender woman, saunter on a hostile thoroughfare. She walked
through a pergola of bamboos, on a hard ‘aisle’ of tarmac. The woman drags a ‘makeshift
barrow’; raining briskly she walked with no shoes, but keeps on amble slowly.

In the second verse, St Elizabeth, a community on land, the night comes cruel and
profound. “But when you are born on land, you want to work that land.” This is quite funny,
 because everyone’s born on land, which tells us that everyone would just to work on that piece
of earth. The poet elucidate the night in a way that it comes hasty, callous and profound, but
gaudy flames of lightning showed up frayed economical clothing hardly patched but a face
showy by living. This is the way the woman’s face is lit be the thunder of extreme rain, gushing
down. The shoddy clothing of hers is patched here and there and her face ornate by living.

Verse three: “Every sharp line of this etching has the mark of struggle” The poet tells
that the woman lives a hard life, years of struggling, rebellious of some kind. “To the eye,
unyielding bleak earth had brought her close to famine” The scarcity of food made those ones
life’s hard and horrid. Yet through it all, she walks and sings by herself. As his woman lives a
catastrophic life, she still sings, which could almost say that though all her tragic life she
managed to sing and be happy. Singing alone, maybe she felt lonesome or just wanted to
express words through sing? I think she couldn’t resist her situation as ‘appalling’ and ‘heart-
rending’ though she lives an obnoxious and hard life. She treats her situation that she’s in as,
impulsive and devote herself as ‘this’ woman.

Another analysis from “Fire and ice” by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But, if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice

A lot of thought most definitely went into the creation of this poem. Fire and Ice is written as a series of
nine lines, alternating between three rhyming sounds — ABA ABC BCB being the rhyming summary
for Fire and Ice. It features a narrator describing the end of the world in their own vision, and it’s largely
simplistic.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

These first few lines describe the disagreement in general society on the topic of how the world ends. In
a modern sense, “fire” and “ice” could well be stand-ins for “nuclear disaster” and “climate change.”
Frost’s use of “fire” and “ice,” however, is largely a metaphoric decision that opens the poem up to
different kinds of interpretation. Ice and fire, of course, are opposites of one another, suggesting that
most people have entirely opposing views on the apocalypse — after all, the world can’t end in ice and
fire at the same time. Ice and fire also represent two extremes which, on a grand enough scale, could
cause immense damage, and are fitting metaphors for harbingers of death.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

Here the speaker provides their own opinion — they equate fire with desire, which is to suggest that it is
equal with passions, with greed, with rage. Fire is being used as a metaphor for strong, consuming
emotions such as desire. It is a fitting analogy — in a candle or a fireplace, fire shows a person the way.
It is warmth and light. In the same way, small desires are no trouble at all and can guide a person to the
things they want in life. On a large scale, however, fire consumes and destroys, and so too does desire.
The speaker recalls their experiences with a strong desire and tends to believe that it is those kinds of
emotions and impulses that lead the world down its irrevocable path. For the speaker, the world will
end in fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

As a close opposite to the burning desires the speaker sees as being so dangerous, the ice is also a
concern in their mind. They believe the world will burn, in one form or the other, and that would end it
— but if it didn’t end, and the fire wasn’t enough, the remainder of the poem says, then they believe the
ice could manage the feat as well. As an opposite to a burning flame, a chilling sheen of ice represents
hatred to the speaker. They think of it as something that would chill the world, slow it down, and isolate
each individual enough that the human race simply couldn’t survive it. The potential for ice “would
suffice,” and even though they tend to believe in the destructive power of desire, they see no reason to
believe that hate couldn’t end the world just as easily.