Unseen Poems

The Key to analysing any unseen poem is actually quite simple. Read the poem a couple of times over and start to make judgements about what you believe the poem to be about.

No one can take amrks off you for not knowing EXACTLY what the unseen poem is about - because no one knows EXACTLY. All you can do is make sensible suggestions and judgements based on what you've read. This may take two or three readings to sink in.

Once you have made these judgements, you can begin to turn these into your introduction, stating what you BELIEVE the poem MAY be about backing up what you say with EVIDENCE.

Try it with this poem:

StealingThe most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.
Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute
beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate
with a mind as cold as the slice of ice
within my own brain. I started with the head.

Better off dead than giving in, not taking
what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,
frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill
piercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowing
that children would cry in the morning. Life's tough.

Sometimes I steal things I don't need. I joy-ride cars
to nowhere, break into houses just to have a look.
I'm a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera.
I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.
A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this - Aah.

It took some time. Reassembled in the yard,
he didn't look the same. I took a run
and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out
in rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standing
alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.

Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.
One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might
learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once,
flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest.
You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?

Carol Ann Duffy.

So, in your intoduction, answer what you believe the poem is about and what sort of points you think the speaker and poet are trying to make. I will include an example answer in the next post.