Literary Analysis of Poetry

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William Shakespeare was an English poet and dramatist.

 Hello,

There are three principal topics you can discuss when doing a literary analysis for poetry:
  1. Imagery
  2. Convention
  3. Form
1) Imagery & Recurrent symbols/motifs: Imagery represents the descriptive elements of the poem. The descriptions are not only visual, they can also appeal to all the senses.A motif is a central or recurring image or action in a literary work. When reading a poem, notice which words repeat themselves several times. Notice semantic fields (words that are related to some theme) and how they work in the poem. Do they represent something? Are they related to some idea?

For example:

“Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed” – Sonnet XVIII, W. Shakespeare
Here, Willy uses lots of imagery that remind us something iridescent and beautiful. He also makes lots of references to such iridescence decaying. What I wrote for a critical comment was this:
“As Shakespeare acknowledges how the summer’s lease is short, he discusses the loss of beauty through time. For Shakespeare, beauty in a person is as rare and precious as the occasions when the sun irradiates its shine in the sky, however, though a magnificent phenomenon, like beauty, it does not last, declining sooner or later.”
2) Convention: In plain words it is how something is done “conventionally”. How is love/death/life/chastity/sorrow usually express in poetry? You can discuss if a poem somehow breaks a convention or, on the other hand, how the poet/poem follows it. Convention can be formal (rhyme, meter, arrangement of stanzas, etc…) or tematic (how a theme is addressed or developed). Another example:
Another remarkable characteristic of this shakespearean sonnet is how centered it is on the individual. […] Differently from Surrey’s, where external factors seem to be the ones making difficult to the lover to be alright, Shakespeare explores how the lover itself is a factor of the uneasy thoughts that challenges him. (I was comparing Surrey’s “Set me whereas the sun doth parch the green” and Shakespeare Sonnet 29)
3) Form: Poems have a “form”. Some rules they follow or characteristics that places them under a particular category. Notice under what category does the poem you are reading falls. Is it a sonnet? A fourteener? A mock epic? Should it be rhymed or unrhymed? Should it be arranged in quatrains, couplets, five-line stanzas? You can shape your comments around how it is written (or even how it should be written). Example (yes, Shakespeare again!!): 
“In the octet the poet describes his depressed state and later, in the sestet, praises the thought of his loved one. Many critics have pointed out this particular way of development as a form in which Shakespeare approaches the situation of the lover. Whether it represents how the moments of sadness occupy a greater space in the lover’s mind in comparison with the joy the loved one brings to him, or how the speaker fails to find a solution for his grief, thus, not presenting a third quatrain with the problem solved, one thing is evident: Shakespeare suggests the possibility of poetry and its form to extend the meaning of it.”
These are the basics, but they are always very helpful. With practice you will find it easier, but still, we all suffer when written critical comments or an analysis!!
You know, people who lived 500 years before us have been in love, wishing they could be forever young or losing sleep because they are either in love or very lonely. We all share the same concerns and longings, but also we all say it or perceive it in a very different way. I guess the best part of reading and commenting literature is that you realize many things not only about  a poem or a novel, but about life, humanity and about yourself. As cheesy as it sounds. So question your existence, your thoughts, how would you express them, how would you address something to one you love, loved or loved you. How does it feel to miss someone, to lose someone. How does it feel to exist and to die.


Here are some links that might be helpful too:

Literary Analysis Guide - Goshen College
Literary Analysis: Using Elements of Literature
HOW TO WRITE A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY
How to Write an Analysis of Theme — Teaching College English