There are two ways to analyze poetry. The first is by form - counting syllables, analyzing structure, meter, and rhyme scheme. This method can be taught. The second way is to analyze what a poem does, instead of the way it was made. This method is the one that I myself employ.
There are two kinds of people: those who hate poetry, and those who write it. It seems nearly universally true that if someone enjoys poetry, they have attempted the writing of it at least once in their lives. Although not all of those in the second category will be in the running for poet laureate, at least there is something about the art of poetry that speaks to them. Those in the first category will learn what a teacher or professor tells them the poem is about and remember it long enough to pass the test or write the essay. Those in the second group will remember the images and emotions evoked by the words so artfully crafted to reach into their hearts and minds.
A poet, with an economical use of words, chooses only those which may best strike at the innermost part of his readers. He writes for himself always, because to render beauty, love, hatred or despair, he must first feel it. His words must touch the humanity we all share, or it cannot be art.
A poet does not lay his words out haphazardly, even though it may appear that way. ee cummings often left words seemingly hanging in mid-air, attached to nothing, when in fact they were the anchor of his meaning. To analyze poetry one must approach it with the willingness to see words employed in unexpected ways. ee cummings, by shunning capitals and using punctuation to achieve his own ends instead of in accepted ways, revolutionized modern poetry. Consider how much less effective this ee cummings poem would be without the impact of his strategic word placement.
i have found what you are like
i have found what you are like
the rain,
(Who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields
easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike
the air in utterable coolness
deeds of green thrilling light
with thinned
newfragile yellows
lurch and.press
-in the woods
which
stutter
and
sing
And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,
your kiss
When analyzing poetry, allow the words to create their illusions, paint their pictures and stir the emotions. There will be phrases, small bits and lines that attach themselves to your heart and reverberate within you. If the poem does none of that, it is not for you. Then you can count syllables, analyze structure, meter and rhyme. Those things are important too.
