Poetry can be a challenging literary form because of the density of meaning. With narrative, the reader’s interpretation is based on a more global perspective that evolves from understanding the thematic images, relationships, and discourse created by the writer. With poetry, the individual words are combined within specific structural guidelines, all of which serve a specific purpose within the meaning of the poem.

Some students love poetry and find it easy to read and understand, while others find it very difficult to make sense of and, consequently, dislike it. Much of this dislike stems from the frustration of not knowing how to penetrate the density of the poem. When the work is written in another language, the task can become more complicated. Physically—visually—poems are like jigsaw puzzles: Some are simple, others are complex, but in every one, each element fits together in a certain way to create a cohesive whole. Try thinking of the sounds, or verbal components, of the poems as you would those of a song. The words of the poem are like the lyrics of a song in that they are combined within the structural guidelines to produce a musical rhythm. Every time you listen to a song, you are listening to poetry. If you can understand and appreciate music, you can understand and appreciate poetry.

This chapter will provide you with clear steps for developing the ability to recognize the visual and verbal pieces of the puzzle and how they fit together. The skills particular to poetry include being able to count the number of syllables in each line, or verse, determine the patterns of rhythm and rhyme, identify the classifications of poetry, and understand poetic language. The goal is to prepare you to go to class ready to learn how to interpret poetry, and ultimately to enjoy reading or even creating poetry.