In literature lessons, the teacher often asks children to draw up a plan for analyzing a lyric poem and write, based on it, a detailed analysis of a particular work. What should the student do in this case? What are the key features to consider? Let's answer these questions together and in practice we will consolidate what we first say in theory.
We draw attention to the biographical data of the creator
Given that poetry is a reproduction of the subjective mood, feelings, thoughts of the author, a complete analysis of the poem cannot be thought without taking into account the specific historical circumstances that took place in the life of the writer when creating the work. However, the plan of analysis of the lyric poem (grade 11 and others) should include biographical information and facts only with the proviso that they will be subjected to critical reflection first. Indeed, not all information is of direct importance for a particular poem.
Usually, a historical and biographical commentary includes a description of the author’s personal life (the situation that occurred at the time of writing in his family, with close people, friends, comrades, with others, etc.) and the situation in the country (connection of the poem with This epoch is especially characteristic for times of turning points in the development of the state, for example, social and political motives are widely present in the lyrics of the poets of the Silver Age, whose share was the encounter with the scrapping of the old system and birth, literally from blood and Meni, the New World).
Category of genre and genre identity
Further, the analysis plan of the lyric poem requires the definition of a poem as a work of a certain genre. For the lyrics, which, along with drama and epic, is one of the 3 kinds of literature, the following genres are characteristic:
- Oda is a solemn, laudatory poetic work, which is traditionally written in a high style with a predominance of book vocabulary and is dedicated to exceptional events.
- An epigram is a small lyrical work of a satirical character, which is designed to make fun of a certain person.
- Madrigal is a humorous-complementary or love musical poetic poem, also small in volume.
- Romance is a small poetic creation, which, due to its melody, can be superimposed on music; traditionally, the romance reflects the mood, feelings and experiences of the lyrical hero.
- Elegy - a poem, the characteristic stylistic features of which are the prevailing motives of sadness and sad thoughts. In their content, elegies are usually deeply philosophical, imbued with sorrow, disappointment, and doom.
- A sonnet is a work of poetic creativity, which differs from other genre “brothers” in a specific construction system and approved stylistic rules and laws. So, the Italian sonnet always consists of 14 lines (verses): 2 quatrains (quatrain) + 2 three-verses (terzeta). The English sonnet includes 3 quatrains and a final couplet.
- Epitaph is a short saying that is usually composed in poetic form in case of death and placed on a tombstone as a funeral sign.
- Message - a poetic letter addressed to a specific person or group of recipients. The genre has subspecies and is divided into messages of love, satirical, friendly, lyrical and others.
- The anthem is a glorifying song created in honor of the gods, heroes, winners, key events in the history of the people. The initial elements of the genre were request, epiclesis (sacred name) and arethalogy (a special part of the epic genus). One of the most famous works of the genre is Gaudeamus - the international anthem of students.
- A song is a lyrical piece of medium volume that serves as the basis for subsequent musical arrangements and in its traditional form consists of a number of verses and a repeating chorus.
- The lyrical poem itself is a small poetic creation, which is created by the author on his own behalf or on behalf of a fictional lyrical hero. It is for this genre that schoolchildren sometimes require a plan of analysis. There is practically no lyric poem (9th grade and generally high school children know this) in elementary school. This is a genre in which writers describe the varied spectra of feelings, emotions, contradictions of the human inner world, etc. Therefore, it is still characteristic of high school and is designed for more mature, thoughtful personalities.
Does a lyric poem analysis plan end up defining a genre? Of course not! We can say that we are still at the very beginning of the journey!
Theme
The terms “theme” and “idea” are often difficult to understand not only by students, but also by adults, for whom philology is not a thing of a lifetime. In order to create at least a plan for analyzing a lyric poem (Grade 8 and similar), it should be understood that the topic has a more general, abstract, global meaning and answers the question: "What is this poem about?" It can be about love (love lyrics), about friendship, about philosophy, about nature (landscape), about the place of a poet and poetry in society, it can be a work of confession, etc.
Idea
The idea is a perception of the topic and in its essence it is not only individual, but also more specific, substantive, and practice-oriented. The plan for analyzing a lyric poem cannot be considered complete if the reader does not understand the idea. To achieve this goal, you can turn to supporting questions:
- Why, why did the author create a similar work? What did he want to convey to the reader, what to share with him, what to say?
- What does a person learn by reading this poem?
Semantic content
In the same section, the plan of analysis of the lyric poem provides for the analysis of the title from the point of view of the initial formation of expectations, assumptions, building a certain mental vector of the development of content. Does the title reflect the essence of the poem? Usually you can get an affirmative answer to this question, but this is far from a constant. Often, writers resort to accepting deceived expectations, contrasting (antithesis) the name and internal content of the verse. The author did all this deliberately, which means that in the analysis such essential details cannot be missed. The semantic content can also be understood by activating the channels of perception. To do this, just answer a few questions:
- What poem allows you to see, hear, feel?
- What associations and thoughts does it cause?
- What mood creates?
- How, from the point of view of the peculiarities of language design and the use of artistic pathways, does the author achieve the creation of a certain atmosphere?
Next, we move on to a detailed analysis of the art form.
Form as a frame for content
If we are talking about a plan for analyzing a lyric poem in literature, then we should never forget about the existence of a unity of content and form. It is not by chance that a writer uses certain techniques, a certain structure, stanza, rhythm and size - all this is subordinate to the general idea. Therefore, it will be advisable to analyze the work from the point of view of its belonging to the literary direction, in the aspect of composition, or dividing into semantic components (sometimes linear, circular, parallel, etc.) and syntactic and stanza division.
The rhythm, or periodic repetition of homogeneous elements in a poem, measured size (whether the work is written with iambic, chorea, anapaest, amphibrach, dactyl, sponde or pyrrhic), rhyme (rich or poor, male or female) and rhyme (cross, paired, encircling) - all these are indispensable elements of analysis in the case when the goal is a good auxiliary plan for the analysis of the lyric poem (7th grade and beyond) and, as a result, an exhaustive examination of the work itself.
An Analysis of Pushkin's Lyric Poem: Key Points
In order to show what a competent analysis should look like, we take the poem “Anchar”, created by Alexander Sergeyevich from September to November 1928. The analysis of Pushkin’s lyric poem will begin with biographical information that is important for creation.
It was created after the poet returned from exile in Mikhailovsky. At this point, his hopes for free creativity were completely destroyed. The work was based on semi-gender stories about the poisonous tree Anchar, supposedly growing on the island of Java. This is a lyrical poem, but the presence of an explicit storyline makes it related to the lyrical-epic genre - a ballad.
An analysis of Pushkin’s lyric poem requires consideration of the composition. It consists of 2 parts, which include 5 and 4 stanzas. In the verses of the first part, the reader becomes an observer of a lifeless picture of the world, in the center of which is a “formidable sentinel”. Time seemed to stop here, and the space of bare, empty territories opened up and occupied the whole universe. In the second part, we are transferred to the field of human relations between the "master" and "slave."
How does the form in Anchar help express the essence?
The size of the poem is a four-foot iambic with pyrrhic, i.e. skipping stress in the foot. Yamb, Pushkin's favorite size, was associated with the poet with maximum freedom in versification. That is why here, in a work that reflects the social injustice of the world order, where the theme of freedom and tyranny is so clearly raised, the poetic size and other details seem to reveal to the reader one of the key ideas of Pushkin’s genius - this is an active disagreement, a clear, loud protest against the infinity of power one person over another.
It is possible to complete the analysis of this work related to civilian lyrics with one’s own thoughts, polemic, or agreement with the author’s position.