A Poetry Handbook

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A Poetry Handbook Mary Oliver $10.22   

Intention, Message and Comparison

Intention

Intention refers to the presumed reasons or purposes  why a poet has written a poem. The poet’s  intention may be to criticise a country, some  people) and encourage change. 

       
Poetry for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Poetry [Poetry for Students]

 

 
Message

Message refers to what the poet is trying to tell us in the poem. The message is the deeper meaning which we remember after we have finished reading the poem. The poet’s message may be to encourage the reader to realise the injustice of the society or may be to protest against one’s injustice.

Figurative Language

Words and language are used to extend their meaning beyond the everyday, and create more than surface meaning. They often add meaning by comparing or contrasting two different elements.

Analysing

In this lesson we analyse a South African poem focusing on techniques learnt previously. Pay attention to how the analysis has been worded – this is how you should word your answers in poetry tests and exams.

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Lyrics from “Cleaning out my Closet” by Eminem

I’m sorry mama

I never meant to hurt you

I never meant to make you cry

But tonight, I’m cleaning out my closet…

Message:

In this song, Eminem writes about his childhood  experiences. He wants to tell us his belief that his mother is not a good parent to him. In this extract, his message is that he does not want to hurt his mother with what he is about to reveal, but he does want the truth to come out.

Intention:

Eminem’s intention may have been to hurt his mother, purge his conscience, or appeal to the youth. He could  also be writing to point out how parents sometimes fail in their duty to their children. It is difficult to guess exactly what a poet’s intention for creating a text was.

Figurative language used:

This line “cleaning out my closet” could have both a  figurative and literal interpretation. Literally it means to clear the junk out of your cupboards but figuratively it means to expose something, or to move away from the (possibly unpleasant or upsetting) experiences of the past.

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Analyse 

Examine the following stanza extracted  from the poem “The Birth of Shaka” by Oswald Mtshali

His baby cry

Was of a cub

Tearing the neck

Of the lioness

Because he was fatherless

Questions

1.      What are the poet’s intention and message in this poem?

2.      What comparative figures of speech have been used? Explain what is being compared and how the words add meaning to the poem.

The poet’s message and intention

The poet’s message is to tell us what Shaka was like as a child. His intention is or may be   

to show us how, like a lion cub, Shaka succeeded although she was being illegitimate.

Figures of speech

A metaphor is used to compare Shaka’s “baby cry” to the sound a lion cub (makes whilst tearing his at mother’s throat)

It’s as though the baby and the cub become the same thing - the cry of the baby is exactly the same as the sound of the lion cub.

Because of this metaphor, the qualities of the lion cub are transferred onto the baby. The strength and ferocity of the lion reflect or mirror the description of the baby and his strong, ferocious cry, blaming his mother for his lack of a father.

Analyse

Extract from “How do I love thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach …

Message:

This message is written to the poet’s lover. She wants him to know that she loves him as much as it is possible to love.

Intention:

She wants to express the extent and power of her love for the recipient.

Figurative language used:

The poet compares the extent of her love to the infinite reach of her soul. This comparison emphasises the extent of her love, as it is infinite just like the  “depth and breadth and height my soul can reach”.

Task

Examine the following stanza an extract from the poem “The Birth of Shaka” by Oswald Mtshali

His baby cry

Was of a cub

Tearing the neck

Of the lioness

Because he was fatherless

Analyse

1.What are the poet’s intention and message in this poem?

2.What comparative figures of speech have been used? Explain what is being compared

and how the words add meaning to the poem.

Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18

“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeares

(1)     Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?

(2)     Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

(3)     Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And

(4)     Summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

(5)     Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

(6)     And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,

(7)   And every fair from fair sometime declines,

(8)   By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimm’d:

(9)   But thy eternal Summer shall not fade,

(10) Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

(11) Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

(12) When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

(13) So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

(14) So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Structure

There are 14 lines made up of three quatrains (four lines) in Sonnet 18. Each sonnet has a very specific argument. This structure helps to make the argument more logical.

First quatrain

The poet considers his lover and questions whether she should be compared to a Summer’sday.

The first quatrain sets up the problem –is it complimentary to compare one’s lover to a Summer Day? and is this an accuratecomparison?

Second quatrain

In this quatrain the issue is discussed further. Again, Shakespeare is questioning whether he can compare his love to a Summer’s day.

He discusses further the issue raised in the first quatrain, giving more reasons why perhaps it is not a good comparison.

The discussion becomes more generalized, not limited to only one summer’s day – a preparation for the argument to develop along more abstract lines in the third quatrain, and to take in the universal idea of the fading of beauty with time.

Third quatrain

Here Shakespeare extends his argument. He says not only is the sun’s beauty something that doesn’t last and can be overshadowed, but his love is in fact more beautiful than the sun because her beauty as it is described in the poem doesn’t fade, but in actual fact grows fairer.

Rhyming couplet

These last two lines conclude the argument of the poet, and we are supposed, at this point, to be completely convinced that he is right. He brings the two elements of the argument  together – that his loved one is beautiful, and that his poem can preserve that beauty through time, while days dawn and fade.

The rhythm of the sonnet

There is also a fixed pattern of stresses and rhythm in each line of sonnets. If you read these lines aloud, you will notice that each of them has the same pattern of stressed syllables.

Metaphor

There are many examples of imagery and symbols in this sonnet. Some of them are:

The sun is referred to as the eye of heaven. This is an example of a metaphor – it creates a powerful image in your imagination.

The sun is also described as having a gold complexion. Again this is a wonderfully descriptive image – and an example of personification because the sun is given the human characteristic of having a complexion.

In terms of symbols – the whole poem revolves around whether likening his love to a summer’s day is an adequate comparison.