When I read poetry, the first object I figure out is how the title fits into the poem. I ask questions such as why would they name it that, how does the title make any sense, or what the heck does the title even mean? As I read the poem however the title begins to sum up what the author is trying to say in the poem. In Shakespeare’s, “My Mistress’ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun” it seems like he is only talking down about his “lady.” However, as you look deeper into the poem and you read the last line it says, “As any she belied with false compare.” Shakespeare was trying to say that some men compare their women to all these wonderful objects of life, but his woman surpasses them all. He is saying that there is no comparison when it comes to describing my woman. He has found the woman of his dreams and to him there is none better. He knows that she is a beautiful woman on the inside, even if some may say she is ugly on the outside. I had to read over many of the poems for them to make much sense at all; most of them still do not make any sense. I wonder what he was thinking, and I am also glad that people do not write like him anymore. In his work, “Shakespearean Sonnet” I do not understand the point he is trying to make. His sentences have no structure or any flow from idea to idea. If he was in your class, then I have a feeling that he may not have a very good grade.
Abby I really liked how you looked at the title, and used that to help you interpret the poem. I feel like this could be very helpful for everyone to do. Poetry will still be hard to understand no matter what someone does to help themselves understand it. I always have to read a poem maybe 5 times before I can even grasp what the poem might mean. I try to break it down, and understand line by line until I can slowly start to grasp the poems meaning.
I like how you use the title to figure out what the poem is about, but I do not do that. A lot of times, I just skip over the title because I know it would not make any sense anyway. I am also glad that people do not really talk like Shakespeare anymore. He is way to hard to understand.
Thanks for that last line, Abby 🙂 Yes, your meaning should always be clear in an academic paper; however, I guess Shakespeare gets away with it since he’s writing in a different genre… 🙂