How to Swallow a Poem

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Poetry is a performing art.

When we were children, we listened to a parent or teacher read us poetry and stories. What they were doing was performing for us - and we listened. In fact, we learned our language by listening to everyone around us. Many books for young children are written in verse, and this is no accident; children ultimately consume their literature through listening, not firsthand reading.

So the way we most effectively learn about poetry is through listening to it.

What techniques lend themselves to listening to poetry effectively? When you listened to the poems in A Mouthful of Air, you likely noticed that the poets sounded different from each other, and that each of the poems sounded different from prose.

What were your first thoughts?
Did any phrases stay with you?
What pictures came to mind as you listened or watched the poets perform?
What feelings were evoked as you listened to the poems?

Throughout this lesson, you'll use these and other questions as strategies to listen to poems and experience the full effects of their sounds and imagery.

How to 'Swallow' a Poem

Swallowing a poem is a different way of analyzing a poem.

When you analyze a poem, you divide it into parts and look at the parts right away.
When you swallow a poem, you take in the whole, and begin with your own experience.

STEP 1: Listen to the poem. Read the poem out loud.

STEP 2: Write down your first impressions.

STEP 3: Focus on the mood in the poem.

STEP 4: Look up any words you need to define.

STEP 5: Read the poem again, out loud.

STEP 6: Look at the structure of the poem.

STEP 7: Are there images? Are there symbols? Is the poet trying to create a picture?

STEP 8: Does the title of the poem add any meaning to it?

STEP 9: What is the sum of the thoughts, feelings, and substance in the poem?

Click here for a handout on 'Swallowing a Poem'.

Reflect and Respond to "Rong Radio" and "I Wanna Head a Poem" - you might try using the Swallow a poem technique, or stick to your own first impressions, as you did in your last entry.

Submit a link to your Journal in Class Notebook to the Journal: Listening dropbox. Let me know that your "How to Swallow a Poem" entry is ready.

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