Poetry commentaryPoetry commentaryIntroductions

ISB students know how to write effective introductions for commentaries on poetry.

Here are some of your predecessors’ good attempts:

This poem depicts a rather unoriginal scene, one where an attractive young woman in a café encounters a variety of men, all of whom are interested in admiring her. But this poem takes something of an unusual approach—the setting becomes an underwater world, the men and woman sea creatures. Because of this twist and in the hands of an imaginative writer, the ordinary situation takes on a depth and a poignancy. In Keith Douglas’s ‘Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden’, the speaker critiques superficiality and makes comment on the cruelty of beauty through striking alliterations, original tropes and vivid imagery in an extended metaphor about fish.

The poem, “Summer Solstice, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka,” has a very melancholic tone, as the speaker finds meaning in life through a near-death experience. The poet Marilyn Krysl has written a poem that has a personal sense to it; the use of a first-person perspective characterizes the speaker in a personal and distinctive way. Additionally, the structure of the poem is unique, in that though the poem includes four-line stanzas continuously throughout the poem, there is no definite pattern, but rather is free verse. The speaker talks of suicide in a vague, almost hallucinatory way, as she is trying to make sense of her own unclear attempt at death and escape. Even as the poet portrays a speaker struggling with thoughts of suicide and hopelessness, however, there is a profound realization of the beauty of life.

These are not easy to write, and just because they appear first on the essay page does not mean they should necessarily be written first.

You might leave some space blank on the IB lined paper, and then, after crafting your intro paragraph on scratch paper, write the finished version into your essay LAST.

Don’t…

Don’t…◦Stop crafting the intro until it’s strong.

Don’t…◦Stop crafting the intro until it’s strong.

◦Leave out the punctuation (such as quotation marks on the title) that “finish” the message.

From the Internet:

After the Flood is a well written poem about an individual looking down on the damage caused by a flood. The observer takes a walk past the river and discovers its natural beauty as well as its incredible force to destroy. The poem’s main interesting aspects are the portrayal of the observer by the content of the poem, the role of the river in the poem and finally the mix of feelings which the poem arouses through its use of literary devices.

Don’t…

Don’t…◦Write overly simplistic, facile statements about the poem.

Don’t…◦Write overly simplistic, facile statements about the poem.

◦Be vague or unclear.

From the Internet:

The poem “Night of the Scorpion”, written by Nissin Ezekiel has an interesting contrast of good and bad hidden within it (an essence of equality).

But also, Don’t…

But also, Don’t…◦Go on and on using pseudo-litcrit language to say … not much.

But also, Don’t…◦Go on and on using pseudo-litcrit language to say … not much.

◦Make horrific punctuation errors which suggest you are not well-educated.

Another Internet example:

The poet has made the mother’s experience of getting bitten by a scorpion sound very painful and endless. The poet has conveyed this by using some descriptive language. E.g. “May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition”. This poem which was written by the first person, has other techniques such as; alliteration – “I watched the flame feeding on my mother”; tone of voice (short sentences giving a tense atmosphere) – “My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every excuse and blessing”.

The poet has made the mother’s experience of getting bitten by a scorpion sound very painful and endless. The poet has conveyed this by using some descriptive language. E.g. “May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition”. This poem which was written by the first person, has other techniques such as; alliteration – “I watched the flame feeding on my mother”; tone of voice (short sentences giving a tense atmosphere) – “My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every excuse and blessing”.

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AND… Don’t…◦Write ludicrous content. (not that you would…but this one is just too cute!)

Yet another Internet offer:The first significant thing which makes this

poem good is the way in which the read can learn about protagonist of this poem. Firstly one can learn that the observer in the poem is bright. The observer’s analysis of the water level and the cause of its high level demonstrate that he can analyze and synthesize information. His intelligence is also connected to the location of the action in the poem. “I walked to the Jersey side” suggests that the observer is from Jersey which is on the East coast of the USA, a region associated with top schooling and stereotypically great universities like Harvard or Yale.

The first significant thing which makes this poem good is the way in which the read can learn about protagonist of this poem. Firstly one can learn that the observer in the poem is bright. The observer’s analysis of the water level and the cause of its high level demonstrate that he can analyze and synthesize information. His intelligence is also connected to the location of the action in the poem. “I walked to the Jersey side” suggests that the observer is from Jersey which is on the East coast of the USA, a region associated with top schooling and stereotypically great universities like Harvard or Yale.

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