Here is a
sample analysis of a poem. Consider "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. (A link to the
poem is included below.)
This is a narrative poemit tells a story...it has a
plot. In terms of its structure, there are 11 six-line stanzas: six in Part
One, and five in Part Two. There is end rhyme (where the end of one lines rhymes with the end of
another). The pattern of sound created is A A B C C B. This means
that the first and second lines rhyme (at the last word), the third and sixth lines,
etc.
Repetition is used throughout the poem, giving the piece a musical
sound. (Repetition is only one literary device used for this purpose.) The repetition is found
in either lines four through six, or in lines four and five. Consider the first stanza of Part
One:
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty
trees, ۬The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
۬The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, ۬
And the highwayman came riding
۬Ridingriding ۬
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
In this stanza, "riding" is used in the last three lines. This emphasis is
not only something that provides a sense of movement by the highwayman, but it also emphasizes
his steady approach or gallophis impending arrivalto the inn. (The last three lines of stanza
three of Part One will also be the last three lines of stanza eleven, the poem's closingand
hauntingsegment.)
Other literary devices are used to capture the reader's
imagination and paint vivid mental pictures in the mind. Metaphors (that describe dissimilar
things with similar characteristics) are found in the first three lines of the first stanza in
Part One.
The "wind" is compared to a "torrent of
darkness;" the "moon" is compared to a "ghostly galleon" (or ship);
and, the "road" is compared to a "ribbon of moonlight."
At the start of stanza three in Part One,is used: it is the repetition of a consonant
sound at the beginning of a group of
words:
Over the cobbles he
clattered and clashed...
The "c"
sound is repeated in
"cobbles,"
"clattered" and
"clashed." This also makes the poem sound more musical.
Without realizing it, these are things the ear picks up, which also gives the poem a lilting
rhythm.
Stanza six of Part One has a the comparison of two dissimilar things,
using "like" or "as."
His face burnt
like a brand...
This is saying that his "face"
glowed like a piece of wood ("brand") in the fire.
In Part Two,
stanza six,is used to convey the sound of horse's hoofs hitting the road's surface. Onomatopoeia
is a word that describes a sound (like the "hiss" of a snake, or the "buzz"
of a bee). The reader can almost hear the sound of the rider approaching with the repeated word,
"tlot-tlot."
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they
heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear...
Discussing
these devices is part of the poem's analysis. Here is a plot summary:
This is
a romantic poem: a highwayman falls in love with the innkeeper's daughter (Bess). He visits her
one night, and another man (Tim) who loves the girl hears the highway man's
plan to return. Out of jealousy, Tim shares their secret, and the soldiers wait for his
reappearance. Bess sacrifices her life to warn her sweetheart; however, his
heart is so broken, that he comes back to avenge her death and is shot out on the road. The
ghosts return, meeting again on winter nights at the deserted inn.
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