When I was a child, I loved reading poetry. But later in life when I learned to analyze and deconstruct poems, my passion faded. Poetry can be hard to decipher. And when you try too hard, the deciphering can bog you down.
I developed this quick poetry exercise to help me read and think about poems with less effort and more enjoyment … like I had as a child.
I call it my 1-3-1 Exercise!
1 – Think of 1 word to describe how you feel after reading the poem.
3 – Pick out 3 words from the poem that contribute to that feeling.
1 – In one sentence tell what the poet might be saying in the poem.
Try it! And if it works for you, add it to your poetry toolkit.
Then share a poem with a friend.
Happy poetry month!
This is perfect, Jean, because over deciphering can take all the fun out of poetry. And I always wondered how my teachers “really” knew what the poet meant when they wrote the poem!
So true, Penny. And poetry is so personal to begin with. Like art, it should be evaluated and enjoyed with much personal preference and interpretation.