PoetryAnalysis#1AugustrainsbyJohnFlemingA

Rhyme/Freeversepoem
(http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/august_rains_619425)
# Poem

Denotation Connotation

PoetryDevices
Used

1 The steadily falling cold August

Itissteadily
rainingin
augustina
countrycalled
Cheshire
(locatedin
northwest
England)
Itrainsover
saturated
wheat,soaks
thegrassand
wetsthefeet.

Itiscontinuingto
steadilyraininthe
country,over
wheat,anditis
coldwater,which
showsthatthey
havehadagood
harvestbecauseof
thebountifulrain
butthewateris
gettingcolder
showinghowthe
growingseasonis
almostover.When
itsoaksthegrass
andwetsthefeet,
itmeansthatitis
startingtobetoo
muchandis
startingtoflood
outoftheground

Imagery

Aagricultural
machineisin
theshed,
rottingapples
arerosyred.
Abirdseyes
areascoldas
stone

Themachineisin
theshedbecause
itisnolonger
beingused,
becausethe
growingseasonis
almostover,the
applesarestarting
torotbecausethe
applesaregetting
old.Thebirds
eyesareascold
asstonewhich
means
unemotionalwhich
showstheanimals
lackofcare.

SimileItis

rains A
Continue to pour upon Cheshires
lanes; A
over flattening fields of soddened
wheat, B
Soaking the grass, splashing the
feet. B

2 Stands the Combine in the shed; C

The rotting apples hanging rosy

red; C
Stands the caped heron all alone, D
The glinting eye as cold as stone. D

Usesdescriptive
wordstopainta
pictureinthe
readersmind.
Itissignificant

beingusedhereto
comparethe
coldnessofaneye
toastone,which
helpsthereaders
understandingof
thepoembyusing
commonidioms.

3 And in amongst the many puddles E Inthemany

We step around like our troubles E
So lurch ahead with our retreat F
Like drunken fools in the street. F

4 And through this months darkly

frowns G
The cleansing downpours wash the
towns; G
Scrubs the spire from ingrained
time; H
Absolves the guilt from the
crime.H

puddles,we
steparound
ourtroubles,
andlurch
aheadwith
ourretreat,
muchlike
drunkenfools
inthestreet.

Inthese
monthsthe
rainwashes
thetownsand
scrubsthe
spirefrom
ingrained
time,italso
freespeoples
guiltfrom
theircrimes.

Weareavoidour
problemsandtry
tomovearound
them,anditstarts
togetvery
noticeableand
hardtocontrolthe
moveweavoid
them.

Astimegoeson,
yourpaststartsto
fadeandyour
presentstartsto
becomemoreand
moreimportant,
andyouwillstart
feelinglessguilty
aboutthebad
thingsyouhave
doneinthepast.

Assonance
Inthiscase,they
allstartwith
different
consonantsounds,
buttheyallshare
onevowelsound,
whichistheein
thiscase.Itis
usedeffectivelyin
thiscasebecause
itismaking
connections
betweenthelines
otherthanthe
rhymepattern,
whichmakesthe
readerenjoythe
poemmore.

MoodThe
moodisshown
hereasdarkand
depressing.Mood
setsthefeelingfor
thepoembecause
theyshouldhave
feelingsforthe
poemwhenthey
arereadingit.In
thiscase,the
readershouldfeel
likethetownis
darkand
depressing,much
likethefallseason
whereitis
constantlyraining
andallthecrops
needtobe
harvestedbefore
theystarttorot
andturnbrown.


PoetryAnalysischoice
Chooseapoemtoanalyze(notonethatyouhavewritten)andwriteanexpository
paragraphinwhichyoudescribewhatmakesthispoemagoodpoemandinwhatwayit
relatestoyourportfoliotheme.

Theuseofpoeticdevicesandrhymingschememakeitagoodpoemandtheway
natureisusedrelatestomypoetictheme.Theuseoftherhymingschemeweretwo
consecutivelinesrhymemakeitagoodpoem.Itdoesthisbymakingthesentences
easytoconnecttoeachother,whichhelpthereaderunderstandthepoembetter.
Secondly,theuseofpoeticdevicesmakesthisagoodpoembecauseitmakesthe
poembetter.Itmakesthepoembetterbecauseitgivesusmoredetailaboutthepoem
andmakeuswanttoreadmore,forexampleimagerypaintsapictureinthereaders
mindandhelpstheunderstandingofthereaderbymakinghimmoreinterestedinthe
poem.Finallyitrelatestomyportfoliothemebecauseitusesthethemeofnatureand
howitaffectsthepeopleduringtheseason,inthiscasefall.ThequoteAnd through
this months darkly frowns showstheuseofhowtallislinkedtomysteryorhow
somethingbadmighthappen.Alloftheseshowhowthispoemisgood.

SecondPoemAnalysisWinterbyUnknown.
(http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/wonderfulwinter
wonderland)
Rhyme/FreeVerse

# Poem

Denotation

Connotation

Poetic
Devices
Used

1 Iwillgazeatthestars,A
AndmaybeevenMars,A
Theyareallsobright,B
Onawonderfulclearwinternight,B
Feelingthebreeze,C
Watchingthetrees,C

He/sheisgazingin
thestars,and
possiblyevenlook
atmarsonaclear
winternight,
feelingthebreeze
andlookingatthe
trees

ItisthePerfect
night.Thestars
arevisible,andthe
cloudsareclear.It
isbeingimplied
thatthiswinter
nightisthebest
nightoftheyear,
whereeverything
ispeaceful.

2 They'reswayingwithgrace,D

Thetreesare
swayingwith
Inthispeacefullittleplace,D
graze,theplaceis
Timemoveson,moreandmore,E
peacefultime
It'sgettingcolderthanitwasbefore, movesonanditis
gettingcolder.
E
Peoplearegetting
Peoplearesickandsneezing,F
sickbecauseitis
Becausethisweatherissofreezing, freezing
F

3 Oneoftheprettiesttimesofyear,G Winterisoneof
Winterseasonisfinallyhere,G
32isthemagicnumber,H
Forawhiteblanketasyouslumber,
H
Yummythingslikehotchocolate
ands'mores,I

theprettiesttimes
oftheyear,32isa
magicnumberfor
thesnow,while
yousleep.There
arethingssuchas
hotchocolate,and
othertreats.

Allofthetreesare
wellorganized,
timeisquickly
goingfasterasit
getsmorecold.
Thisisshowing
thatthecold
makestimego
faster,showing
thatinsteadof
freezingwhich
wouldbethe
conventional
thought,which
showsthatthe
poetthinksoutside
thebox.People
aregettingsick
duetothe
weather.Thepoet
istryingtoshow
thatnoteveryone
ispreparedfor
winterandthat
theygetsick.
Theauthoris
tryingtoshowthe
readerthatwinter
isthebesttimeof
theyear.When
he/shesaysthat
32isthemagic
number,he/sheis
referringtothat32
isthefreezing

Repetition
isbeingused
throughouteach
sentence,asThe
isineachofthe5
sentencesofthe
poem.Itisbeing
usedeffectivelyin
thepoembecause
ithelpsconnect
thesentencesin
poem,which
makesthereader
understandthe
poembetter.

Personification
isbeingusedhere,
whereitgivesa
nonhumanobject
ahuman
characteristic.In
thiscaseitis
givingthetreesa
human
characteristic,
wherethetrees
areswayingwith
grace.Itisused
effectivelyhere
becausebygiving
thetreeahuman
characteristic,it
helpsthereader
connectfurtherto
thepoem.

Allusion
Thepoetis
indirectlystating
thatwhenwater
freezesbysaying
32isthemagic
number32
degreesfahernheit
iswherewaterat

Cookies,treats,andsweetsgalore,

temperatureof
waterindegrees

Fahrenheit

4 AfascinatingseasonWinteris,H
Withit'sbeauty,peace,andbliss,H
Christmasisalmosthere,J
Aholidayfilledwithsuchcheer,J
Givingandgettingsomanythings,
K
Beingwithfamily,enjoying

(http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/32_%28n
umber%29)
Thepoetistrying
tosaythatwhen
waterfreezesit
becomesmagical.

Winteris
fascinatingwith
beauty,blissand
peace.Aholiday
bringshappiness
andpeopleenjoy
everythingthatit
brings,suchas
gifts.

everythingitbrings,K

5 Youhadalreadymadeyourlist,L

Someonealready
Youwakeupandhopetofindyour madeachristmas
giftlist,when
wish,L
he/shewakesup
he/shewillfindit,
Unwraptheboxandlookinside,M
andwhenhe/she
Yousawyourwishandnearlycried,
didtheynearly
M
cried.Everythingis
Ohman,howwonderfulWintercan great,fromthe
scenerytothe
be,N
holiday.
Fromtheholidaystothescenery,N
Myfavoritething,however,I'm
havingtroubledeciding,J

sealevelfreezes.
Itisused
effectivelyhereby
makingthereader
think,whichmakes
himmore
interestedinthe
poem.

Thepoetissaying
thatwinterisa
greatseason
because
Christmastakes
placeinit,andit
bringsthefamily
togetherwithgifts,
etc.Thepoetalso
issayingthat
winterisgreat
becauseofthe
nature.

Thepoetistrying
toconveya
messagethat
unwrappinggifts
makepeople
happy.Inthis
case,thegiftwas
whathe/she
wantedandwas
almostcrying.The
poetdoesntknow
whatisthebest
aboutwinter,from
thescenerytothe
holidays.

Everythingisgreat,andit'sonlyjust
arriving.J

PoetryAnalysisChoice2

Thispictureeffectivelyportraysthepoemduetothetreesshown,thechurchinthe
backgroundandthesnow.Thetreesshowneffectivelyportraythepoembecausethe
poemmakesreferencestothetrees,thatareswayingwithgrace.Inthispicture,itis
snowingsotheremustbewindsothetreeswillalsobeswayingwithgraceshowing
howiteffectivelyportraysthepoem.Secondly,thepoemmakesreferencestoa
religiousholidayChristmasandinthispicturethereisachurchwiththelightson,
showingthattherearepeopleinside.Thiseffectivelyportraysthepoembecauseitis

showingthatpeopleareexcitedfortheholidayjustlikethepoetwasdescribingonthe
poem.ThequoteChristmasisalmosthere,aholidaywithsomuchcheer.Showsthat
thepoemisdescribingthemoodofChristmasasvibrant,justlikethepicture.Finallythe
snowalsoportraysthepoembecausethepoemmakesplentyofpointsonhowthe
snowaffectsthemood.Thequote32isthemagicnumbershowsthatwhenwater
freezesitsmagical,justlikewhenwaterfrozeinthepictureitisalsomagical.Theseare
justsomeofthewaythatthispictureeffectivelyportraysthepoem.