What's a good poem for a poem analysis?

Question

Man I hate it when my school does this. I have two projects to complete. 1. I must write a good paragraph. 2. I have to write a poem analysis of 200 words about any poem. I wish they would have given me a list of poems to choose because when they give me an assignment like this with such a broad array of choices, I go slightly insane. Heck, this assignment has me bordering psychotic. Any suggestions that would be good for a poem analysis? The funny thing is, I'm not a stranger to poetry and I don't know what to write about, I just need some suggestions. Here are the requirements:

Poetic diction: Is the language appropriate to the subject matter? Does the language used add or detract from the meaning of the poem?


Rhyme and meter: Analyze the use of rhyme and meter.


Poetic devices: Locate and discuss any poetic devices contained in the poem.


Figurative language and symbolism: Locate and discuss any figurative language and symbolism.

Answer 1

Try "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Answer 2

Almost any good poem can be used. If you're familiar with poetry, then pick one you enjoy and are comfortable with. It should also be a poem you think you understand fairly well. For instance, if I had this assignment, I wouldn't use a poem by Wallace Stevens, although I like Stevens, because I don't understand most of his work. I would pick a work from another poet I enjoy, such as Auden's "The Truest Poetry is the Most Feigning" or "The Shield of Achilles", or perhaps Tennyson's "Ulysses". Any of those would be a good choice, but there are a thousand other good choices - it's just a matter of what you're comfortable with.

Answer 3

I've got the perfect poem for you.

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol

It's strange, it's fun, it tells a good story, and it's full of poetic devices. It's a poem found in the sequal to Alice in Wonderland called Alice's Adventures Through the Looking Glass. The peom is full of strange, archaic words...some of which are combinations of two different words invented by Carrol himself called a portmanteau. Best yet, if you read further into the story, the peom is discussed in detail by a character Alice meets along the way by the name of Humpty Dumpty (heard of him?). You won't have any trouble finding something to write about for this poem. It's a classic.

Answer 4

The poem is about the interconnectedness of being: the same life in the poet's bloodstream is to be found in growing things, in the rhythms of the ocean (which themselves mirror the rhythms of life and death), and in the history of life on earth (this is the meaning of the last two lines). Technically, the poem is written in unrhymed free verse. The word 'life' is used in every stanza as well as the title, indicating the centrality of the idea, and the theme of rhythm is similarly repeated throughout.

Answer 5

Here are two that follow you questions.

TWO HAPPY LOVERS - by Pablo Neruda

Two happy lovers make one bread
or single moondrop in the grass.
Walking, they cast two shadows that flow together;
Waking, they leave one sun empty in their bed.

Of all the possible truths, they chose the day;
they held it, not with ropes but with an aroma.
They did not shred the peace, they did not shatter words;
their happiness is a transparent tower.

The air and wine accompany the lovers.
The night delights them with its joyous petals.
They have a right to all the carnations.

Two happy lovers, without an ending, with no death,
they are born, they die, many times while they live!
They have the eternal life of the Natural.

I DO NOT LOVE YOU - by Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fireshoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straight forwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way.

that this; where I do not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Answer 6

Pick any poem. All are good for analysis.

Answer 7

Blakes ...London is one that fits all yr requirements

Answer 8

fire and ice by robert frost