Unlocking the Poem

The limited number of poetry resources for high school students all present their subjects by way of techniques: poems are included in chapters focused on "metaphor," "tone," or "sound." But no great poem was ever written to illustrate a lesson on metaphor.

The way to understand a poem is to get to know it as itself, rather than as an example of poetic technique. Unlocking the Poem treats each poem as an independent literary event, just as it was written. Discussion of literary elements begi...