Moving Closer to Analysis
Now that you have read the poem a few times and determined its literal meaning, it’s time to answer a few questions that will help you to build an analysis. Reread the poem aloud to yourself. Once you are finished, answer the questions below.
Type your answer using your notes. When you have selected an answer for a question, check your understanding.
- Who is the speaker’s audience?
a. To a large mass of people
b. To himself
c. To his best friend
Sample Response:
Correct: b. To himself
Incorrect: a. (people) Because of the quotations in the first stanza, you may think the speaker is talking to a group of people.
Incorrect: c. (friend) You may think the speaker is talking to a close friend because of the way he analyzes what’s happening.
Close - From what point of view is the poem written?
a. First person
b. Second person
c. Third person
Sample Response:
Correct: a. First person
Incorrect: b. (second person) Second person uses the “you” pronoun.
Incorrect: c. (third person) Third person uses the “he, she, it, they, them” pronouns.
Close - What one word does NOT describe the speaker’s tone?
a. Angry
b. Inquiring
c. Content
Sample Response:
Correct: a. Angry
Incorrect: b. (Inquiring) The speaker does have an inquiring attitude in the poem.
Incorrect: c. (Content) The speaker seems to be content in his attitude about his situation.
Close - What is the setting?
a. A graveyard
b. The speaker’s home
c. The speaker’s mind
Sample Response:
Correct: c. The speaker’s mind
Incorrect: a. (graveyard) The speaker indicates he sees a “tomb.” This is a literal translation. It could very well be that the speaker is only thinking about his upcoming death.
Incorrect: b. (home) Because the speaker seems to be reminiscing, you might think he is at home.
Close - What words indicate the turning point in the poem?
a. “That if I”
b. “But now”
c. “For see”
Sample Response:
Correct: b. “But now”
Incorrect: a. “That if” continues what the speaker was surmising or guessing. The lack of punctuation after the word “surmise” indicates “that if” does not begin a new idea.
Incorrect: c. “For see” continues the speaker’s thought from the stanza before about what may have happened. “For see” does not begin a completely new thought. It follows a ;(semi-colon) after “disdained.”
Close - Does the poem have a particular form?
a. Each stanza has three lines.
b. Each stanza is one complete sentence.
c. Each stanza ends with the same three words.
Sample Response:
Correct: a. Each stanza has three lines.
Incorrect: b. (sentence) Each stanza is not a complete sentence.
Incorrect: c. (words) All of the ending words in the stanzas differ from one another.
Close - Does the poem have a rhythm and/or a rhyme scheme?
a. No
b. Each stanza is a rhyming triplet and has a similar rhythm.
c. Each stanza is in free verse but has a marching rhythm.
Sample Response:
Correct: b. Each stanza is a rhyming triplet and has a similar rhythm.
Incorrect: a. (no) The three lines in each stanza rhyme, and there is a definite song-like rhythm.
Incorrect: c. (rhythm) The stanzas have a rhyme scheme.
Close - Does the poet include any figurative language?
a. The “clash” could symbolize a thunderstorm.
b. The word “masteries” could refer to master’s degrees at the university.
c. The “tomb” could be a metaphor for the poet’s death.
Sample Response:
Correct: c. The “tomb” could be a metaphor for the poet’s death.
Incorrect: a. (thunderstorm) There is no indication in the poem of a storm.
Incorrect: b. (university) There is no mention of school or anything else academic.
Close - What does the poet mean by the metaphor “And if it were I had bent and broke”?
a. If he had bent over, lost his balance, and broken his leg
b. If he had not stood up straight and broken his spine
c. If he had not clung to his principles
Sample Response:
Correct: c. If he had not clung to his principles
Incorrect: a. (leg) The metaphor compares the physical accident to the idea of giving in. The speaker did not intend for a literal interpretation of this phrase.
Incorrect: b. (spine) The metaphor compares the physical accident to the idea of giving in. This literal interpretation is not what the speaker meant.
Close - What do you notice about the vocabulary or diction in the poem?
a. The vocabulary and diction are formal and appear in long sentences.
b. The vocabulary is simplistic and easy to understand.
c. The words in the stanzas in the poem have nothing to do with one another.
Sample Response:
Correct: a. The vocabulary and diction are formal and appear in long sentences.
Incorrect: b. (understand) The poet uses some difficult vocabulary.
Incorrect: c. (another) The poem flows from one stanza to the next to explain the speaker’s thought process.
Close
“It is a foolish thing,” said I,
“To bear with such, and pass it by;
Yet so I do, I know not why!”
And at each clash I would surmise
That if I had acted otherwise
I might have saved me many sighs.
But now the only happiness
In looking back that I possess—
Whose lack would leave me
comfortless—
Is to remember I refrained
From masteries I might have gained,
And for my tolerance was disdained;
For see, a tomb. And if it were
I had bent and broke, I should not dare
To linger in the shadows there.
Source: Sydney - Two Lovers, Jeep Novak!, Flickr