Kids Corner: Analysing Poetry Structure

Oh, I see! You need to analyse poetry for your exams. What absolutely delightful fun… OK it’s not really fun unless you get some really good poems on exam day. Even then you are probably too busy trying not to do a stress wee to have fun. I can make it easy for you though!

This week we will be looking at analysing and comparing structures. Here are some things you might notice in the poems you need to analyse, and what they could mean:

Structure:

• Stanzas are like paragraphs in poems, and they are made of blocks of lines. – Are there many or few? What does that mean about your topic? (never-ending? Suddenly over?)

• How long are the lines? – Long lines could mean a slower pace. This could reflect boredom, or calm, or a lack of hurry. Short sharp quick lines could reflect panic, or things happening suddenly.

• Is there a rhyming scheme? – Do the last words on the lines rhyme? Is there rhyming but it’s not in a pattern? Is there rhyming in the middle of the line? Rhyming at the end of lines is more traditional and song-like. This makes it predictable and memorable. Rhyming in strange places, or no rhyming at all makes it less organised, more impulsive, and more surprising.

• Is there a rhythm to the poem? – count the syllables in each line. Is there a regular beat to each line? Regular beats can sound like drums, they can sound inevitable, coming forward at the same pace, like a train. Irregular rhythms in a poem are unpredictable and unsettling and move more like a spider!

• Read the content of the poem. Does it change topic or focus from the beginning to the end? Has the narrator changed their opinion?

Thinking about these different parts of poem structure can really help you analyse poetry in detail. You can identify areas where you can compare poems, and identify the effects that are created by these structural elements.