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Understanding PoetryPerhaps the most challenging material people face in college is reading and studying poetry. While some poems are relatively simple others are more of a trek to get through and make their message elusive. Poet’s sophisticated vocabulary and complex syntax help them to write with precision to ease out the subtle notions of nature and the human mind. Try to figure what the poet is saying on the surface the content of the poem. When you can summarize this content in a few sentences, examine the way the poet conveys this content in other words analyze the poem’s form. Finally determine how the content and form work together to create the poems’ meaning. Useful hints to understanding poetry
JUBILANT FATHER His face is like a sun, warms the moon beside him. She´s grown full; tonight begins the waning. The tide pulls through her very bones, her form aches as each wave crests. The earth pulse, heavy, blood warm within her Beats new chords, old sun god chants. "You are the first mother and the last, all spring flesh has traveled through you." Aztec plumed and gold beaded, your priest kneels at the holy alter, gathers each salt pearl shed, nectar for his sacrament. You are the temple, we pilgrims swept through the gates, bent figures know the scent and petals of your presence, spread our arms to harvest blossoms, and your priest, sun struck, kneels beside you. - CRISTINE McAULIFFE Quote of the Day
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