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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Answers

329. b. The eagle, who watches from his mountain walls and falls like a
thunderbolt, is depicted as too alert and dynamic to be dying
(choice a). There is really no joy depicted in the poem nor any
sense that this is a baby eagle (choice c), and there is no men-
tion of baby birds the eagle might be watching over (choice d).
Saying that the eagle watches and then falls like a thunderbolt im-
plies alertness and then striking, respectively. The most logical
choice is that the eagle is hunting.
330. b. The word azure means blue and is often used to describe the
sky. Neither a forest nor cliffs are azure (choices a and c), and
nature is not mentioned as an entity in the poem (choice d).
331. a. It is the wrinkled sea that crawls in the first line of the second
stanza of the poem.
332. b. The fellow frightens the speaker—a, c, and d are not frightening.
333. a. Tighter breathing indicates fear, as does zero at the bone (one is
sometimes said to be cold with fear). Also, the subject is a snake,
which is generally a feared animal.
334. c. In context, the speaker is discussing animals, because he follows
with his contrasting attitude toward this fellow, meaning the
snake. The other choices are all human beings.
335. b. Stanza 3 contains the phrase when a boy implying the speaker
was a boy in the past and is now, therefore, an adult man.
336. b. The poem describes nature in terms of the murder of a happy
flower, and includes the words beheads and assassin; therefore,
the most logical description of the poet’s attitude would not be
delight, indifference, or reverence, but rather dismay.
337. c. The flower in the poem is happy and feels no surprise that it must
die, which implies acceptance. If there is any hint of fear or hor-
ror in the poem (choices a and b), it is on the part of the poet.
Nothing in the poem is described as feeling reverence (choice d).

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338. c. A God who would approve of a happy flower being beheaded,

while, apparently, the rest of the natural world (as exemplified
by the sun) remains unmoved, is probably not to be regarded as
benevolent or just (choices a and b). Approval does not connote
anger (choice d). The most logical choice is that, in this poem,
God is cruel (choice c).
339. b. The word pelf is an old fashioned term meaning wealth. The
context of the poem does not support any of the other choices.
340. c. The poem’s title lets the reader know right away that the poem
is about patriotism. The poet focuses particularly on the person
who is not patriotic, however, suggesting that the one who hates
his own country will die without honor.
341. b. The phrase “doubly dying” causes the reader to stop and think
about what the poet is trying to suggest. Scott is saying that the
unpatriotic person will die physically, just as the patriot will die
physically—but the unpatriotic person will also experience a sort
of “second death” when he is completely forgotten in the future.
The patriot, by contrast, is remembered by future generations.
342. c. The context of the poem is speaking of a person who cares
only about himself, caring nothing for his country. Therefore,
concentred most nearly means “focused on or concerned with”
himself.
343. a. Sir Walter Scott draws a bleak picture of the person who hates
his country. It is safe to assume, therefore, that he loved his
homeland.
344. d. The poet uses merely to simply make a statement with no emo-
tion attached to it. Therefore, the other answers are all incor-
rect as anger, amusement, and sorrow are emotions.
345. a. The soldier’s behavior is aggressive: cursing, jealous of others
who receive honor, quick to fight. The lines do not reveal a
sense of honor, but rather the soldier’s dishonorable behavior.
There is no mention of dedication, nor anything to suggest a
fear of cowardice.

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