Select ONE of the poems on our Blackboard site and do a formal analysis. A formal analysis is simply accounting for the poem's form and its use of poetic devices. To do one, follow these steps:
Listen closely at the poem. What do you hear? What sounds stand out to you? What sounds predominate the poem? Over one or two examples from the poem to illustrate the sounds that most leap out to you.
Are there natural pauses (caesuras), places where you fill compelled to stop, take a breath? Are some pauses hit harder than others? Mark them and cite a few examples in your paper to illustrate.
Do any of the lines have a hard stop at the end creates a sense of emphasis (end-stopping)? Do lines run over the ends and spill onto the next line (enjambment)? Illustrates some of these instances if they occur in your poem.
Is there a pattern in how the lines are laid out in print (i.e., couplets, quatrains, tercets)? Are the stanzas are regular (e.g., 5 lines each) or highly irregular in their number of lines? If so note down any pattern whether its regular or irregular.
Next, look to see if there is an identifiable end rhyme scheme (e.g., ABAB, CDCD, EFEF…). What is it? Are there instances words that rhyme inside of lines (e.g., I cannot begin to thin in summer). If so, cite a few exmples.