How to: Analyse Poetry Whether you enjoy writing poetry, reading poetry or you are simply a meter junkie, analysis is a crucial element to succeeding in the literary field. To me, poetry is often the most subjective composition and you can find yourself interpreting a piece of poetry completely differently to perhaps the poet or someone else. Here, I will look at the basic steps of analysis and how to enhance the ways in which we can interpret certain works. Below, I will explain the steps through the use of a worked example- ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’ by Christopher Marlowe. 1. Read the poem and establish your initial impressions I think before even beginning to pick apart any literary works, it is so important to read them for enjoyment first. After reading, I like to mind-map/bullet point any associations I make with the poem and perhaps pick out certain words that I feel define the themes of the poem and brain-storm some...