English 2319: Introduction to the Study of British Literature
Some elements of a poem:
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The speaker of the poem. Who is (s)he? What does (s)he tell us about him/herself?
about other subjects? Is (s)he credible? What does (s)he desire his/her speech to
accomplish?
The internal audience of the poem. The "internal audience" is the implied hearer
within the poem itself, as distinct from us as readers who are outside the poem and, in
a way, overhear it. We can identify an internal audience by the presence of a secondperson pronoun (e.g. you, your, thou, thee, thy) in the poem.
 Who is being spoken to?
 What is his/her/their relationship to the speaker?
 In what ways does this audience affect what the speaker says?
The situation of the poem.
 What is the poem's setting? Where in time and space does the speech seem to
take place?
 What is its dramatic context? Does the speech of the poem constitute or seem
to form part of a "narrative plot"?--a developing series of actions? The "plot"
may be either explicit or implicit.
The relationship between the poem's syntactical structure and the structure of the
verse form. This is one of the most important things to keep in mind when you are
reading a poem. The poem creates and transmits its meaning (semantic content)
through its sentence structure. The metrical structure of the poem--the line is its basic
unit--can reinforce, add to, or even work against that meaning, but in order to get the
full significance of the poem, you must be sure to read the poem's sentences!
Sometimes the poem's syntactical structure (sentence structure) and metrical structure
will work together. Sometimes they won't.
The imagery of the poem: the "things" the poem mentions or alludes to.
 imagery consciously or unconsciously contained in the words of the speaker-his/her comparisons, the things (s)he talks about, etc.
 imagery included in the setting of the poem.
The diction of the poem. What kinds of language does the speaker use? Is it used in
an unusual way? Is it special in any way or drawn from a particular area of
experience? Does it characterize the speaker in any way?
The verse elements: rhyme, meter, rhythm, alliteration, consonance, etc. These
elements are most important when they contribute to the poem's overall effect.