Exploring Poetry Introduction to Critical Analysis

Exploring poetry | Introduction to critical analysis

Sample critical analysis of haiku poem

Answer as many of the questions as you can here. If you cannot think of a response leave the box blank and ask your teacher.

Part 1.What effects and/or meanings are possible from the poems you have selected?

a)What is the emotional mood of the poem?Does it seem lonely? Sad? Thoughtful? Content? Irritable? Other?

The word ‘solitude’ and the references to wintry weather give this poem a rather lonely and sad mood.

b)Is there a reference to the season or seasons in the poem? If so, what language
is used?

Winter is specifically mentioned. It is also likely to be winter because it takes place ‘in a world of one colour’. The one colour is possibly the white or grey of ice or snow. The ‘sound of wind’ also suggests winter.

c)Does the poem appear to be about a specific event? A problem? An achievement?
A moment of change? An observation about the world? An issue or issues?

The poem seems to be about being alone on a cold day and observing the effects of winter on the landscape.

d)Does the poem seem to express a specific viewpoint about the world?

The poem seems to express a viewpoint of the world as rather lonely and cold.

e)What sense of time occurs in the poem? Does it seem to be slow or rushed?

The time in the poem seems to be slow, as the persona has time to observe the state of things around him/her.

f)What other effects do you notice?

The poem seems to be about feeling, looking at and listening to the landscape on a
winter’s day.
Part 2.Consider your answers to the above questions and the methods that are used to create these meanings or effects.

a)What is the persona of the poem like? What words allow you to think of the persona and what he/she is like?

The persona seems patient and observant but is feeling alone and perhaps a little sad because it is winter. The persona might be like a Buddhist monk, or a poet; one who looks for a place in the landscape to be alone and reflect on things.

b)What other choices of language make you think of the meanings or effects that you identified in Part 1?

The way the poem is set out: the first line describes the main situation the persona is in (‘Winter solitude’) and then next two lines expand on this so we can see the landscape and feel the effects.

c)What symbolism can you identify in the poem and how does it affect the meanings you have identified?

The winter landscape is symbolic of loneliness and an absence of life and growing things.

d)What imagery can you identify in the poem? How does this help you to arrive at the meanings/effects you have identified?

The line ‘In a world of one colour’ gives us a strong image of the lack of variation in the landscape, as though it is very bleak and perhaps all grey, or even white with snow. I also get an image of a single person standing in this bleak landscape, as suggested by the words ‘Winter solitude’. This suggests loneliness. Aural imagery is also used in the line ‘the sound of wind’. This also suggests loneliness, gloom or isolation.

e)What language or imagery is used to suggest the season or seasons?

The season is suggested by ‘in a world of one colour’ and ‘the sound of wind’.

f) How does the order of the lines affect the meanings you might make of the poem?

I think the order of the lines is important because the first line tells me what the poem is about and the other lines explain this.

g)Are there any other observations you might make about the organisation of the language in the poem?

There is no verb suggesting action in the poem. It is just things as they are. We know it is cold and bleak and that the wind is blowing, but only because someone is quietly standing still observing these things.
Part 3.How might different readers in different contexts respond to the poem?

a)What meanings might the language and images and symbols have in Japan?

In Japan, especially at the time that Bashō was writing, life was hard and people depended on the landscape around them for their food. Winter was a time of particular hardship. In Japan, spring is very important because it is the time of new growth and the promise of crops and harvests to come. Aloneness is not necessarily a bad thing according to some aspects of Japanese culture, especially for Buddhist monks and others who try to live a meditative life.

b)What meanings might the language and images and symbols have in Australia?

Winter in Australia is much less bleak than in Japan, but it still can be lonely and cold for some. Reading the poem can make me think of people who might be out in the cold without companions or shelter. There are people in Australia who seek to live in a meditative way, so the poem would appeal to them in that way.

c)What meanings might the language, images and symbols have in another country?

In a very hot and crowded place it might be hard to imagine ‘winter solitude’. Readers would have to imagine this in their own way. They might have to think of comparisons for this scene in their own lives. They might long for ‘winter solitude’.

In answering some of these questions you will have used metalanguage.

Check the glossary to make sure you are using the terms correctly. Ask your teacher if you are unsure. Add any new terms to your vocabulary list.

Finally

Choose one of the poems you have explored and in your journal or notebook, write a paragraph in clear sentences, responding to the following question.

Part 4.What meanings do you arrive at when you read [title of chosen poem] and what specific choices of language and poetic conventions are used to help produce those meanings?

When I read ‘Winter solitude’, the imagery of cold and isolation makes me feel the cold and wind and see the bleak landscape. It makes me want to be in a warm safe place and to be surrounded by growing things, rather than the harsh empty spaces. I also feel some pity for the lone figure. This is an effect of pathos, or the use of language that makes the reader feel a little sad.