TP-CASTT
A SAMPLE ANALYSIS
T IS FOR TITLE
While it’s generally true that you
shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, it is
perfectly okay to judge a poem by its
title! Take a look at the title and try to
predict what the poem might be about.
Remember, the poet chose that title for
a reason—so what IS that reason??
P IS FOR PARAPHRASE
Paraphrasing is an important skill. The
first step in analyzing ANYTHING you
read is putting what you read into
words that you understand. When you
paraphrase, you are restating the literal
meaning of the poem in your own
words.
C IS FOR CONNOTATION
Remember: words can have more than one
meaning. Reread the poem and look for
deeper, extended meanings. Be sure to
consider not just diction, but also any poetic
or literary devices, as these are often clues to
the poet’s meaning. Just as the poet chose
the title intentionally, those images,
metaphors, symbols, etc. didn’t show up by
accident! What do they MEAN?
A IS FOR ATTITUDE
Another word for attitude is tone. Think
about how you use tone of voice to
communicate more information than
just words when you are speaking. How
is the poet’s tone conveyed through
the words they choose? Which words in
particular help to establish this tone?
S IS FOR SHIFTS
Notice any changes or shifts in speaker or
attitude. Some things to consider when
looking for shifts are:
• Key transition words (yet, although,
however)
• Punctuation
• Stanza divisions
• Changes in length (to lines or stanzas)
• Changes in rhyme
• Changes in diction
T IS FOR TITLE (AGAIN)
Now that you have read and analyzed
the poem in depth, go back and
reconsider the title. Does it have any
new significance?
T IS FOR THEME
Lastly, consider the poem’s larger
meaning or message. What insight is the
poem giving into the human
experience? Remember to phrase this
as a thematic statement, not just a
concept.
A POEM BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY
What's this of death, from you who never will die?
Think you the wrist that fashioned you in clay,
The thumb that set the hollow just that way
In your full throat and lidded the long eye
So roundly from the forehead, will let lie
Broken, forgotten, under foot some day
Your unimpeachable body, and so slay
The work he most had been remembered by?
I tell you this: whatever of dust to dust
Goes down, whatever of ashes may return
To its essential self in its own season,
Loveliness such as yours will not be lost,
But, cast in bronze upon his very urn,
Make known him Master, and for what good reason.
TITLE
This poem does not have a title, so, as is the case with
other poems without titles, we refer to it by its first line,
“What’s this of death, from you who will never die?” At
first glance, I predict that in this poem the speaker is
addressing an inanimate object, because he/she says
it will never die. Maybe the poem’s theme will have
something to do with mortality. Or, maybe it’s about
mental illness, if the speaker is addressing a rock or a
desk.
PARAPHRASE
Why do you, who will never die, speak of death?
Do you think the wrist that made you from clay,
The thumb that carefully placed the indentation
In your full throat and put lids on your wide eyes
Beneath that forehead, will allow to lie
Dead, forgotten, underground someday
Your impeccable body, and in doing so destroy
His most famous creation?
This I tell you: whatever dying
Occurs, whatever of your remains return
To the elements from which they originated in due time,
Your beauty will not be lost;
Rather, your image will be cast in bronze upon the urn of the
creator Himself,
Illustrating the good reason he is known as God.
CONNOTATION
The statue being molded from clay seems to be an allusion
to the creation of man in the bible and other creation
narratives, so that starts me thinking that the sculptor is a
metaphor for God (maybe why the “Master” at the end of
the poem is capitalized) or another higher being, and the
audience is an actual human being. The reference to
“ashes” also makes me think we are talking “ashes to
ashes, dust to dust” like with a human being.
The use of “unimpeachable” to describe the audience’s
body, as well as the focus on the eyes and throat, makes
me think the audience is the speaker’s partner.
ATTITUDE/TONE
The speaker is serious and concerned. The poet does
not seem to be mocking the speaker’s sentiment. It
seems as if the poet shares the speaker’s belief in the
power of art.
SHIFTS
This poem, like other Italian/Petrarchan sonnets, shifts
between the eighth and ninth lines, between the
octave and the sestet. If I were not a sonnet master, I
would recognize the shift by the fact that the speaker
changes from asking to answering, also possibly due
to the declaration, “I tell you this:”
TITLE (II)
Now that I know this poem is addressed to an actual
person, the first line changes for me, and it turns out
the individual’s mortality the poem centers around is
that of the audience, not the speaker.
THEME
Because the speaker claims that his or her partner will
be immortalized by his or her likeness being cast in
bronze, and because the poem does so in its own
way by focusing on the physical attributes of the
individual being addressed, one possible meaning
might be that “One way that mortality can be
overcome is through art.”