How do you understand poetry?

Question

How do you understand poetry?

Answer 1

Without reading all the answers before mine, Kudos to Alexx, and I chuckled. Strictly offers an important clue.

Almost never does a poet express for others; but almost always through some personal relevance in the subject.

Understand seems to me, in this context, to be "Subjective. To "understand" a body of work, one might have to actually relate to it.

What I often find annoying, is the judging of anothers expressions.

Steven Wolf

Answer 2

With all due respect to some of the other answerers, it seems to me that the biggest cop out generally sounds something like, "Well, I have no idea what the poet is trying to say, but to me, this poem means...."

Art, in any form, is the conscious and intelligent expression of emotion. That's a limited definition, but it will do for these purposes. If you accept that, then you can see that when a poet sets out to write a piece, he or she is consciously and intentionally creating something that is, by design, crafted to take you from point "A" to point "B", in an artful way.

If you, as the reader, just don't "get it"----don't take that emotional journey intended by the author--- then either it is a bad poem, you haven't given it enough thought or energy, or it is a good poem and it is simply beyond you.

Good poems are indeed the product of the concepts involved, the words and images used, the meter, etc, and they can be extremely dense in the sense that an appreciation of ALL of these factors may well be required to take the "journey" the poet has intended for you.

So when considering a poem that might, at first, seem perplexing, please don't use the lazy reader's cop up. Try it again, and again. Worthwhile things rarely come easily.

Answer 3

Three things to look for:
1. Imagery. Try to understand the snapshots the poet is giving you with each word, phrase, or paragraph.
2. emotion: determine whch emotion is prevelent in the poem and how deeply it is felt, or not felt as the case mey be.
3. Rhythm: look for the beat within the words. A poem can speed up or slow down along with the words being expressed.

Really, you have to like words in order to like poetry. Words have color, they have flavor. Poets know this and in this they are master chefs cooking up delightful morsels for literary consumption. A poem is a form of writing that frees the writer from all conventions, having read this you should now realize that my three rules mentioned above are in fact utter BS.

Just savor the words, the imagery will follow.

Answer 4

Good poetry is clear and hides nothing from the reader. Take poetry at face value and assume it means what it says.

Answer 5

I read the answers first, and I believe Daniel's is the best. You have to "feel" what the poet is saying. Just immerse yourself in the imagery. Trying to analyze too hard spoils the whole mood of the poem. If you don't "feel" what the poet is saying, just move on to another poem, because that poem was not meant for you, or perhaps it is just not a very good poem.

Answer 6

well poetry is not a matter of understanding just read and ur heart will tell u

Answer 7

i try to look at the flow of thoughts and words...the use of words with apt meaning appeals me alot...i hate when repeatative things are expressed in the old fashioned way...even if thought is old it should be presented differently ..thats how i enjoy and feel the poem.

Answer 8

poetry expresses the thoughts and feelings of the author. It may be her/his wonderful experiences to miserable heartaches or senses to express something....=)

Answer 9

To me good poetry should be easy to understand. If it's confusing then it's no good to me.

Answer 10

You read the words and feel the rhythm in which they are being "said". The entire context lets you know what they are about, like a story would.