Poetry Analysis—TP-CAS-TT Protocol

Before you even think about reading the poetry or trying to

analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem ​might ​be about
T TITLE based upon the title. Often times authors conceal meaning in the
title and give clues in the title. Jot down what you think this poem
will be about.

Before you begin thinking about meaning or tying to analyze the

poem, don't overlook the literal meaning of the poem. One of the
biggest problems that students often make in poetry analysis is
jumping to conclusions before understanding what is taking place
in the poem. When you paraphrase a poem, write in your own
PARA words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at the number of
P sentences in the poem—your paraphrase should have exactly
PHRASE the same number. This technique is especially helpful for poems
th ​ th ​
written in the 17​ and 19​ centuries. Sometimes your teacher
may allow you to ​summarize w ​ hat happens in the poem. Make
sure that you understand the difference between a ​paraphrase
and a ​summary​.

Although this term usually refers solely to the emotional

overtones of word choice, for this approach the term refers to
any and all poetic devices, focusing on how such devices
contribute to the meaning, the effect, or both of a poem. You may
CONNO consider imagery, figures of speech (simile, metaphor,
C personification, symbolism, etc), diction, point of view, and sound
TATION devices (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, and rhyme). It is not
necessary that you identify all the poetic devices within the
poem. The ones you do identify should be seen as a way of
supporting the conclusions you are going to draw about the
poem.

Having examined the poem's devices and clues closely, you are
now ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present
in the poem. Examination of diction, images, and details
ATTI suggests the speaker's attitude and contributes to
A
TUDE understanding. You may refer to the list of words labeled
“Author’s Tone”​ ​that will help you. Remember that usually the
tone or attitude cannot be named with a single word. Think
complexity.
 Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the
same place. As is true of most of us, the poet's understanding of
an experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a
reflection of that understanding or insight. Watch for the following
keys to shifts:
• key words, (but, yet, however, although)
S SHIFTS • punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis)
• stanza divisions
• changes in line or stanza length or both
• irony
• changes in sound that may indicate changes in meaning
• changes in diction

Now look at the title again, but this time on an interpretive level.
T TITLE What new insight does the title provide in understanding the
poem?

What is the poem saying about the human experience,

motivation, or condition? What subject or subjects does the
poem address? What do you learn about those subjects? What
T THEME idea does the poet want you take away with you concerning
these subjects? Remember that the thematic idea might be a few
words (love, betrayal), but the overall theme of any work of
literature will be stated in a complete sentence.

Poetry Analysis—TP-CAS-TT Protocol

“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” When looking at
this title I think the poem is directed towards female
T TITLE virgins maybe and the poem urges them to find a partner
while they are still young.

Gather your rose-buds while you may

Because time is flying
And while you may be young today
sooner or later you’ll be dying/old

P PARAPHRASE Heaven and Sun,

Both getting higher,
The sooner the race will be run,
And by running the nearer he gets to the setting.

That age which is best is when you are youngest

 When youth and blood are warmer
But when you are spent you’ll get worse and worse
Times still succeed the former

Then don’t be shy, and use your time,

And while you can, go marry;
For having lost your prime,
You may forever tarry.

Poetic Devices Used:

- Quatrain
the poem is four stanzas long
- Personification
this same flower that smiles today
- Iambic pentameter
And THIS same FLOwer that SMIles toDAY, toMOrrow
WILL be DYing
C CONNOTATION - Metaphors
the sun is a metaphor used to represent running time and
gathering rose-buds could represent finding a partner
- Alliteration
may and marry
- Rhyme
I.e: May and today (lines 1 and 3), flying and dying (lines
2 and 4) (Stanza 1)
-

It seems a little complex but mainly the narrator sounds

like a wise and mature figure, that speaks to the naive
and innocent young virgins. Some lines also indicate a
sense of seriousness like “that same flower that smiles
today, tomorrow will be dying” and especially at the end,
in the last line of the final stanza, the narrator ends the
A ATTITUDE poem with a warning: “but having lost your prime, you
may forever tarry”
On the other hand, while reading the poem you can sort
of catch on to a playful tone due to the specific word
choice and the way Robert decides to use metaphors that
include more light-hearted topics to talk about a more
serious topic in general.

The final stanza does demonstrate a shift and it kind of

S SHIFTS repeats the idea of the first stanza but without the
 metaphors, because in the first stanza the narrator
compares the young virgin to a dying flower and the
action of finding suitors to hurriedly gathering rose-buds,
which gives the stanza a playful and innocent tone laced
with a warning. But in the final stanza the narrator loses
all metaphors and clearly tells the young virgin to not be
coy and use her time on finding a husband to get married
while she can, because otherwise she will “forever tarry”

After reading and analyzing the poem it is very clear that

the poem is in fact about what we had previously thought.
It is a poem that is made for the younger women of
today’s society and it talks to them about living life to the
T TITLE fullest since it will come to an end at one point. This can
be seen in the title because having the part that says to
make much of time hints at making the most of every
moment and always living life to its fullest potential.

When looking at this poem and analyzing it it is seen how

it talks about the topic commonly known as “Carpe Diem”
this is because it suggests to always make the most of
the time and to appreciate things while they last. But at
the same time, that sense of “Carpe Diem” is applied to a
superficial concept: Marriage. The poem talks not about
T THEME hurrying to find love but to hurry and marry, to avoid the
terrible fate of growing an old maid. So while there is
some taking initiative and seizing the day involved, the
poem urges young women to focus all of their attention
on finding a partner, not necessarily love, but to secure a
marriage, otherwise, they will find themselves dying like a
flower that was once very beautiful.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he’s a-getting,
 The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.