Overview
You can discover a lot about a poem by comparing it to one by another poet that deals with a similar subject or has a similar Central, unifying idea(s) that run through a text..
Thinking about two poems and identifying where they differ and are similar can give you a deeper appreciation and understanding of them. You should not be thinking about whether one poem is better than another, but about the ways in which the poets have approached their subject matter.
Learn more on writing about language, form and structure in this podcast
Listen to the full series on 大象传媒 Sounds.
Things to consider
- Themes - are both poems about similar issues or themes?
- Attitudes - are the poets expressing similar or different attitudes to their themes?
- A style of poem with a particular pattern of rhythm, rhyme pattern or regular line length (eg sonnet, couplets or ballad). - are the poems written in a clearly recognisable form or not?
- The way a text is built and shaped. Chapters, plot, acts, scenes, stanzas, narrative, verse form, rhyme and rhythm are all aspects of structure. 鈥 how have the poets chosen to set out the poem and its stanza(s) on the page?
- Language - are there striking features of language (like phrases or lines that stand out) in each poem?
- The pattern or beat of a poem, often created by stressed and unstressed syllables. and Corresponding patterns of similar sounding words often, but not always, found at the ends of lines in poetry. - do the poets use rhythm or How words and sounds form a pattern to produce an intended effect for the reader. in the same way?