Exercise: New Critical Analysis of a Poem

For this assignment, you will do a close reading of one of these poems, proceeding on the
assumptions of the New Criticism that (1) there is a difference between a good poem and a bad
poem, and (2) good poems have a spirit or life of their own because they incorporate tensions
that eventually are resolved into an organic unity or autonomous organic whole. Following the
New Critics you should downplay the authorial biography and historical context of a work, and
focus on the work itself; you should, however, examine the literary allusions contained in the
work as an important part of its total meaning.

1. Read the poem closely and get a general sense of what is happening in it. In other words,
analyze the dramatic situation. Who is the speaker? What people appear in the poem? What is
the relationship between these actors or speakers, and who is talking to whom? What is going on
in the poem? How much time elapses in the course of the action? Where is the poem set, and in
what ways is the setting important? Does the poem allude to a specific historical event or deal
with a situation that appears in another literary work (such as a classical or Biblical text)?
2. Look closely at the general formal characteristics of the poem. How would you describe the
meter? the rhyme scheme? Is this poem of a particular genre, such as a sonnet or a ballad? Is it
somehow parodying or slightly changing a generic form? Are there an allusions in the poem to
other works of literature, and if so, how do these allusions function?
3. Great literature, New Critics assert, achieves its effect through tensionthe tension of
oppositions, paradoxes, ambiguities, ironiesand resolution. Like the ropes of a suspension
bridge, these poetic elements balance each other to create an organic whole. Try to identify
elements in this poem that are in tension: images that seem opposite to one another; metaphors
that compare two unlike things; images of two radically different things that are used to describe
the same thing or idea; parts of the poem that seem to pull you in two different directions; two
characters or things that are opposed in the poem; symbols that seem to be unstable; irony or
paradox. There even might be two genres at war in the poem. What two (or more) ideas or
images or forms seem opposed, or in tension, in the work?
4. Create a working hypothesis about what you think this poem is really about. State this
hypothesis in terms of how you think the poem resolves the tension you identified in #3 above.
(You might think of formula: This poem puts X and Y in tension and resolves that tension by
asserting or presenting Z.) Formulate a working thesis sentence (what you think this poem is
really doing or really about) from this hypothesis.
5. Once you have a working hypothesis about what the poem is about, work through the poem
meticulously and show how all elements of the poem contribute to this meaning. Each part of
your analysis will illustrate what is in tension (an image, an idea, people, things) and how that
tension is addressed or resolved. Things you might look at:

the overall organization and genre of the poem. Is the poem of a specific genre? (If the
poem is a sonnet, you might discuss how the sonnet form is important to theme; if the
poem is free verse, you might posit why that form is appropriate to the main idea.) Also,
does the poem break into meaningful parts of some kind? Do stanzas develop the main
idea in some identifiable way? What are the rhyme scheme and meter, and how might
those be significant to the central ideas in tension or the overall main idea?

the specific organization of ideas and language. Do ideas change in the poem from
beginning to end, and if so, how? Does the imagery change as the poem progresses, and
if so, how and why? Are there any patterns to imagery and ideas?

specific language use, including syntax and diction. Is the sentence structure complex or
simple? grammatical? mono- or multisyllabic? Is word choice modern or archaic? Is
word order normal or inverted somehow, and why might that be significant? How does
connotation construct a specific mood, tone, or meaning in the poem? How do figures of
speech (metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche, periphrasis, allusion, etc.) and
language sounds (alliteration, consonance, assonance, etc.) develop from the beginning of
the poem to the end?

6. Put all this together. How do the parts of the poem that you have identified work toward an
overall meaning?