i need help with poety?

Question

i have a piece of coursework on wilfred owen's poetry that i need help analysing the poetry but i'm not that good is there any tips on how i can go about it

Answer 1

All poems have two aspects: form and content. Wilfred Owen wrote about his direct experiences in the First World War (1914-1918). An officer, he wrote with profound sympathy for the ordinary soldiers who served under him. He wrote about the horror of trench warfare, of soldiers choking when they were gassed, and other horrors. His emphasis in not on the glory of war but its pity. In the conclusion of one poem, he declares that the old sentiment, given in Latin (How sweet and proper it is to die for one's country) an "old lie". He felt for the soldiers, finding the generals distant and perhaps even detached. He went into the war as a patriot for the English and democratic cause but became disillusioned with the idealistic side of war, finding it a lie and a pretence. He died at an early age, like John Keats, while still in his twenties, leading his men into an engagement. His originality consists in the fact that he wrote about war in a new, original, realistic way.
Now for poetic form: he avoids writing melodious verse because that would not reflect his realistic vision. His lines have a jagged, broken, or halting rhythm. And when he employs rhyme, as English poetry often did before modernism, he breaks them up as well. He pioneered what are called off or half-rhymes. To give my own example, "war" and "bar" or "serene" and "unseen" would be full rhymes but "war" and "fire" would be a half-rhyme or only a suggestion of a rhyme. You will find many examples in Owen's poetry.
There are many critical books and essays about his poetry, which I am sure you can access through Google or another Internet source under Wilfred Owen criticism. I would recommend the work of Jon Stallworthy, who has written about Owen both as man and poet.

Answer 2

I don't know anything about Wilfred Owen's poetry off the top of my head, but try these:

Look at comma placement and any use of punctutation at all - what does it say about the lines and the rhythm?

Also look where the words fall in the stanzas - look for what's set apart for emphasis, etc. Why does the poet draw attention to that particular word or phrase?

Is the poet writing in a particular style? What does that say about the poem?

Answer 3

Yeah,
Try google! I had to write a report on Wilfred Owen's poetry and google helped a lot. Try it.

Answer 4

I bet it's on "dulce et decorem est" or "the new menin gate", i had to write an essay on those recently. Just make sure you analyse all quotes fully and pay attention to punctuation and literacy techniques such as similies or alliteration etc. Remember when you're writing about poetry that every little detail counts, so don't miss any thing out. Good luck, i hated it.

Answer 5

I know that Wifred Owen was one of the great poets of the First World War and that he died in the trenches.

I read his poetry when I was at school. Not sure about analysing it, but I remember the poems gave a vivid insight into the horrors of trench warfare.

Try this link: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/owena.htm

Hope that helps

Answer 6

Maybe I'm biased because I was an English major in college, but I loved analyzing poetry because it was so easy to do. Most teachers remain quite open minded about their students and poetry.

The easiest way is to just simply read it & let your mind start flowing. Make notes as you read it & write down whatever YOU think is going on. Chances are, you're right.

Answer 7

A poem is like art, you are the one interpreting it. There is no right or wrong answer. The poem will make you feel something of what he was going through. To analyse it just say what it makes you think of in relation to today. What picture is he trying to paint ?

Answer 8

Here is a good website for you - makes it very clear on how to go about analysing poetry. Good luck!
http://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/poetryexplication.html

Answer 9

Look at the content of the poem - What it is talking about
The structure How many stanzas, length of lines, how many lines in each stanza what could it suggest? Rhyming scheme?
Poetic devices - Enjambment, metaphors... etc.. Why?
Attitude and Feelings - What feelings does it have? Etc
You're opinion.

Make sure you back up each point you make PEE Point
(Point, Evidence, Explain)

You should be kewl, add quotes though. ^_^

Answer 10

There is no right or wrong in English, just read the poem, feel the poem and write what it means to you.