Poetry Analysis
Intro
TPCASTT
Introduction to Poetry
Billy Collins
 I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
 or press an ear against its hive.
 I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
 or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
 I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
 But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
 They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Poetry Terms
 Imagery: Anything that appeals to the five senses.
 Sight, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell
 Simile: A comparison of two things using the words like or as.
 Her hair was black like the feathers of a crow in winter.
 Metaphor: A comparison of two unlike things without using the
words like or as.
 Her hair was the black feathers of a crow in winter.
 Personification: Giving nonhuman things human
characteristics.
 The tree danced with the grace of a ballerina in the wind
 Symbol: When an ordinary object stands for something
beyond itself.
 A flag is just a piece of cloth but it represents a country’s
individuality.
 Rhythm: A repetition of sound paterns
 Ba duh, ba duh, ba duh, ba duh
 Meter: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
TPCASTT
 Title: Ponder the title before reading the poem
 Paraphrase: Translate the poem into your own words
 Connotation: Look at the poet’s word choice; find
one or two words that seem odd/different/interesting.
Ask yourself: Why did the poet choose that word?
What does it convey? How would a different word
affect the mood/tone/message of the poem?
 Attitude: Identify what the poem is about
and then explain how you are supposed to feel about
that thing
 Shifts: Note shifts in speaker, message, and/or
attitude
 Title: Examine the title again, this on an interpretive
level (now that you understand more about the poem)
 Theme: Determine what thematic message the poet
is conveying
Practice
 A Poison Tree – William Blake
 Look at the title and attempt to
predict what the poem will be
about.
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did
end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did
grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my
tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and
night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the
pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.
 Paraphrase the literal meaning
or “plot” of the poem. A true
understanding of the poem
must evolve from
comprehension of “what’s
going on in the poem.”
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did
end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did
grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my
tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and
night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the
pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.
 For poetry, connotation
indicates that students
should examine any and
all poetic devices,
focusing on how such
devices contribute to
the meaning, the effect,
or both of a poem.
Students may consider
imagery (especially simile,
metaphor, personification),
symbolism, diction, point
of view, and sound devices
(alliteration,
onomatopoeia, rhythm,
and rhyme).
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did
end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did
grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my
tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and
night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the
pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.
 Having examined the poem’s
devices and clues closely, you
are ready to explore the
multiple attitudes that may be
present in the poem.
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did
end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did
grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my
tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and
night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the
pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.


Rarely does a poet begin and end the
poetic experience in the same
place. Discovery of a poet’s
understanding of an experience is
critical to the understanding of a
poem. Trace the feelings of the
speaker from the beginning to the
end, paying particular attention to the
conclusion.
Look for the following to find
shifts:

1. Key words (but, yet, however,
although)

2. Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons,
ellipsis)

3. Stanza division

4. Changes in line or stanza length or
both

5. Irony (sometimes irony hides shifts)

6. Effect of structure on meaning

7. Changes in sound (rhyme) may
indicate changes in meaning 8.
Changes in diction (slang to formal
language)
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 Examine the title again, this
time on an interpretive level.
A Poison Tree – William Blake
 I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did
end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did
grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my
tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and
night,
Till it bore an apple bright,
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine
And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the
pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.
 Identify the theme by
recognizing the human
experience, motivation,
or condition suggested
by the poem.
 Remember: Theme is
always a STATEMENT,
not a single word, and
not a cliché.
Practice on a poem of choice
(Thematic connection to P&P)
The Garden of
Love (Diyanni 936)
The Ruined Maid
(Diyanni 947)
 Complete a TPCASTT.
 Complete a TPCASTT.
 Decide why the garden
changes.
 Decide which it is better
to be.
 What did you learn about
the period?
 What did you learn about
the period?