Interpretations
Interpreting and analysing a poem is not necessarily a matter of finding the right answer.
Poems are complex creations and are open to many different interpretations. Your How a person understands the material or situation presented before them. is as valid as anyone else's - as long as you can back it up with suitable evidence from the text.
Remember to avoid simply identifying what techniques or approaches poets use. Aim to show an understanding of how form, language and structure create meanings and effects.
Below are some differing interpretations of the poem. How would you interpret the poem?
Examples
Interpretation of the lines: 'Like such a blind and senseless tree/ As I've imagined this to be,/ All envious persons are'
| Interpretation | Reason for interpretation |
| Speaker refers to personal experience suggesting she may have felt jealousy herself. | The only use of first person in the poem draws attention to personal experience. |
| Voice of the speaker is like a teacher telling us a moral lesson. | The tone suggests instruction and builds to moral message in final stanza. |
| Interpretation | Speaker refers to personal experience suggesting she may have felt jealousy herself. |
|---|---|
| Reason for interpretation | The only use of first person in the poem draws attention to personal experience. |
| Interpretation | Voice of the speaker is like a teacher telling us a moral lesson. |
|---|---|
| Reason for interpretation | The tone suggests instruction and builds to moral message in final stanza. |
Interpretation of the lines: 'And should it fret, you would suppose/ It ne'er had seen its own red rose'
| Interpretation | Reason for interpretation |
| The speaker draws the reader into the poem. | The only direct address to the reader in the poem asks the reader to think of their own experience. |
| Casual tone shows how ridiculous it is for rose to feel jealousy. | The line 'you would suppose' is conversational, which suggests it is silly for a flower as beautiful as a rose to ignore its own beauty. |
| Interpretation | The speaker draws the reader into the poem. |
|---|---|
| Reason for interpretation | The only direct address to the reader in the poem asks the reader to think of their own experience. |
| Interpretation | Casual tone shows how ridiculous it is for rose to feel jealousy. |
|---|---|
| Reason for interpretation | The line 'you would suppose' is conversational, which suggests it is silly for a flower as beautiful as a rose to ignore its own beauty. |