How to read a poem





A poem may be read for meaning, mood, entertainment, or appreciation of the
author's technical skill.

Poems may be read silently to oneself, or may be read aloud solo or to other
people. Although reading aloud to oneself may raise eyebrows in many
circles, this restriction is waived in the case of poetry.

Some poems lend themselves most readily to appreciation through reading
aloud, such as "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem
tells a stirring patriotic myth of American opposition to British military
and political domination. The engaging tale and regular poetic meter, as
well as relative lack of subtler content or form, mean that its virtues are
most apparent when the work is spoken or read.

Poems can have many forms. Some are highly defined, with required line
counts and rhyming patterns, such as the sonnet or limerick. Poems can have
less structure or indeed almost no apparent structure at all, perhaps little
of that normally apparent in ordinary prose language, such as grammar.
Alexander Pope gives a well-known example of how in the best poetry, "The
sound should be an echo to the sense..."

English language poetic meter depends on vocal stress, rather than the
number of syllables. It thus stands in contrast to poetry in other
languages, such as French, where syllabic stress is not present or
recognized and syllable count is paramount.