My teacher assigned a poetry analysis essay without giving us much to go on. I have no idea what the structure of a poetry analysis is like.Could anyone help me understand what this poem is about and how to analyze it? Thanks you.

I'm doing the poem "It was a dream" by Lucille Clifton:

in which my greater self
rose up before me
accusing me of my life
with her extra finger
whirling in a gyre of rage
at what my days had come to.
what,
i pleaded with her, could i do,
oh what could i have done?
and she twisted her wild hair
and sparked her wild eyes
and screamed as long as
i could hear her
This. This. This.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2006 04:08PM by v8m9t.

Well, it has 14 lines, so obviously it is a sonnet. Just kidding, sorry. In fact, it lacks any rhythm or rhyme, so we give it the label 'free verse'.

It has no capital letters, except for the This line at the end. Still, it does have punctuation marks, so we can tell when sentences begin, pause and end. One infers the author intended us to read the desperation in the speaker's voice with such techniques, along with the abundance of 'ands' and the 'oh'.

With free verse, one should also look at the line breaks chosen by the author. Lacking a specific meter, s/he must choose the breaks in order to get the reader either to pause, or to anticipate what is to follow. Sometimes we want the reader to guess correctly and sometimes we desire to surprise her/m. Your call if this poem was successful in holding your interest with such methods.

Read it out loud. Does it now possess a rhythm that allows the reader to appreciate the sounds chosen by the author? Pretend you are reading it to someone else, perhaps an inmate in an asylum. Kidding! Notice the particular vowel and consonant sounds chosen - do they complement one another? Gyre of rage for example - the soft 'g' sounds and the loud 'ire' and 'age' sounds.

Finally, determine the message the author is trying to impart, and interpret what solution to the speaker's problem is offered (This).