a sample of the 10 steps analysis on a poem

Today i will be analyzing a poem called Walking Away:

It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day –
A sunny day with leaves just turning,
The touch-lines new-ruled – since I watched you play
Your first game of football, then, like a satellite
Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away

Behind a scatter of boys. I can see
You walking away from me towards the school
With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free
Into a wilderness, the gait of one
Who finds no path where the path should be.

That hesitant figure, eddying away
Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem,
Has something I never quite grasp to convey
About nature’s give-and-take – the small, the scorching
Ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay.

I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly
Saying what God alone could perfectly show –
How selfhood begins with a walking away,
And love is proved in the letting go.

from:http://www.cday-lewis.co.uk/#/walking-away/4525050890




1st step: Forget what the poem may or may not mean, or what it may be about.

So, forget everything about the poem, just imagine it is a bunch of black ink.


2nd step: Look at just the title and WRITE DOWN about half a dozen(which is 6) things that it suggests to you. Give literal meanings as well as other associations.

Here is what i guessed:
1) a person walking away
2) a person's shadow
3) how a person walks when leaving
4) the lost of a loved one
5) leaving your home
6) straying away from good

3rd step: Read the poem once quickly, and then several times more slowly. Try to hear the poem aloud in your head. DO NOT recite the poem aloud in class; if you must hear it aloud, read it quietly to yourself.

This step will allow you to have a better understanding of the poem. The first time is to catch the main ideas and the other times are to get the details.

4th step: WRITE DOWN a list of all those things in the poem that force their attention on you or which catch your interest for any particular reason. This includes unusual/odd/striking words, rhymes, or repetitions/patterns/contrasts, etc.

Here is what interest me:
1) "satellite drifting away"
2) "pathos of a half-fledged thing"
3) "scorching ordeals which fires one's irresolute clay"
4) "God"
5) "love in letting go"
6) "perfectly"
7) "Gnaw"

5th step: WRITE DOWN any features of figurative language in the poem: metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, symbolism, etc.

Here are some which i found:

1) "Your first game of football, then, like a satellite/ Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away" - simile

2) "That hesitant figure, eddying away/ Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem" - simile

3) "Who finds no path where the path should be" - irony

4) "irresolute clay" - symbol of a person's character

5) "You walking away from me towards the school/ With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free" - metaphor

6th step: WRITE DOWN groups of words that may be thematically similar (for example, that all similes make reference to animals/death/plants, etc., or all the first words of lines are conjunction words, etc.). Don't worry about whether your groups of words seem silly or improbable; look at what you have observed and ask yourself: what is its significance?

Here is what i grouped:
1) Nature and God-they are not human
2) give and letting go-they are of opposite
3) ordeals and partings-they are both sufferings
4) satellite and orbit-the satellite drift in the orbit

7th step: Look at your lists, notes, and groups. Do you see any pattern taking shape? If so, WRITE DOWN this pattern.

This is the pattern i found: All the words used, phrases used, similes used, metaphor used are all words about leaving and sufferings.

8th step: Read the poem again and WRITE DOWN your intelligent guesses of what the poem may mean.

Here is what i figured:

In general, the poem is talking about a child "leaving away" from his/her parent.

In detail, the first half of the poem is talking about a 18 year old boy, growing to become a man, not needing the help of the parent anymore, becoming independent. The second half is about how painful it is for the parent to see their child growing up, how cruel nature and god could be. But at the same time, it is also saying how much the parents love the child.

9th step: # Answer the following questions:

1) Who is "speaking" in the poem? Is it the POET or a PERSONA?
2) Who is the poem "spoken" to? In other words, who is the audience for this poem? Is it to a particular person, to the poet himself (reflective) or to the public in general?
3) What is the speaker's attitude to this audience? Is it angry, sincere, joking, teasing, etc.?
4) What is the POET's attitude to this audience? (This may be different from the speaker.)
5) Why is the poem organized in the way that it is?
6) What is the EFFECT of all the things you have written down in Steps 2-8?

Here are my answers:

1) It is most likely the poet as the poem is for the child to read and understand about how the poet himself/herself feels.

2) I think it is to the child who is growing up to tell him about how much they loved him.I think it is also to the public to tell the public about how the parents feel about a child growing up.

3) I think the speaker's attitude towards the audience is emotional and angry.

4) I think the poet's attitude is the same as the speaker, emotional and angry.

5) It makes the reader read longer for each line to fully feel and understand what the persona is feeling.

6) It allows me to better understand the poem.

10th step: WRITE DOWN your guess at the poet's intent: what do you think the poet hoped to accomplish in writing this poem?

I think the poet wants the child to know how he/she feels about him growing up and also to let the audience know about the feelings of a parent watching his/her son growing up.

This is the end of my post thank you for reading it.