I made my song a coat
Covered with embroideries
Out of old mythologies
From heel to throat;
But the fools caught it,
Wore it in the world's eyes
As though they'd wrought it.
Song, let them take it
For there's more enterprise
In walking naked.
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If you like, read my analysis.
Starting: Read slowly.
- Read the poem once, straight through. Now, read it a second time, slower.
- Circle or list any words or lines that feel important.
Surface: What's on the Surface?
- Who is speaking, to whom?
- What is the scene?
- What happens in the poem?
Sound: What do you hear?
- What words or sounds repeat?
- Is the movement fast, slow, smooth, edgy?
- What can you detect about a rhythm or beat?
- What parts make you pause?
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Structure: How is the poem built?
- How many lines and stanzas are there?Are the lines short or long? Is there a pattern?
- Where are the turning points (a shift in mood, thought, or direction)?
- What does the ending do (close, open, surprise, repeat, resolve)?
Suggestion: What might the poem suggest?
- What images stand out? What do they suggest?
- Are there comparisons (like/as, or one thing described as another)?
- Are there symbols (an object that may stand for an idea)?
- Does anything feel ambiguous (more than one possible meaning)?
Significance: What is the message?
- What feeling, conflict, or human experience is at the center?
- What question does the poem raise?
- What might the poem be asking the reader to notice, remember, or reconsider?
- What stays with you after reading?
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